The experience of mortgage distress in Western Sydney

Mortgage distress is affecting a growing number of Australian households. Distress ranges from arrears in mortgage payments to defaults, foreclosures and repossessions. The impacts of mortgage distress are complex and include issues relating to the ongoing financial viability of the affected households, wider neighbourhood effects, and a range of psychological and social impacts. In recent years, mortgage stress has had a consistently higher prevalence in certain parts of Western Sydney than in any other region across Australia.This study is an attempt to uncover the experiences of mortgage distress in Western Sydney and of mortgage holders’ coping strategies. While not claiming to be a representative sample of mortgagors in distress, the report reveals much about the circumstances contributing to mortgage distress and its considerable impacts on the lives of those affected

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality