Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Oct 8:8:559312.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.559312. eCollection 2020.

Health Disparities in COVID-19: Addressing the Role of Social Determinants of Health in Immune System Dysfunction to Turn the Tide

Yvonne Baumer  1 , Nicole Farmer  2 , Thomas A Premeaux  1 , Gwenyth R Wallen  2 , Tiffany M Powell-Wiley  1   3
Affiliations

Health Disparities in COVID-19: Addressing the Role of Social Determinants of Health in Immune System Dysfunction to Turn the Tide

Yvonne Baumer et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

It is evident that health disparities exist during the COVID-19 pandemic, a pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Underlying reasons for COVID-19 health disparities are multi-factorial. However, social determinants, including those regarding socioeconomic status, social inequalities, health behaviors, and stress, may have implications on these disparities. Exposure to one or more of these social determinants is associated with heightened inflammatory responses, particularly increases in the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), as well as immune system dysfunction. Thus, an amplified effect during COVID-19 could occur, potentially resulting in vulnerable patients experiencing an intensified cytokine storm due to a hyperactive and dysfunctional immune response. Further understanding how social determinants play a mechanistic role in COVID-19 disparities could potentially help reduce health disparities overall and in future pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; IL-6; health disparities; immune system; psychoneuroimmunology; psychosocial stress.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Accelerating the storm in vulnerable populations during COVID-19. Race/ethnicity, gender, and social determinants are important factors driving inflammation and immune cell dysfunction. Social determinants include but are not limited to: structural inequities, socioeconomic status, education, neighborhood environment, experiences of abuse, racism or other adversities, chronic stress, income, and education etc. Humans experiencing any of these social determinants can display increased inflammation, especially increased IL-6 levels and dysfunctional immune cells. Vulnerable patients potentially experience an accelerated cytokine storm during a COVID-19 infection due to a hyperactive and dysfunctional cytokine and immune response. Understanding the underlying cellular and immune related mechanisms in health disparities could potentially help in reducing disparate outcomes overall and in future pandemics.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Team CCR. Preliminary estimates of the prevalence of selected underlying health conditions among patients with coronavirus disease 2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. (2020) 69:382–6. 10.15585/mmwr.mm6913e2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Johnson A, Buford T. Early data shows african americans have contracted and died of coronavirus at an alarming rate. Propublica. (2020).
    1. Kendi I. What the racial data show. The pandemic seems to be hitting people of color the hardest. The Atlantic. (2020).
    1. Milam AJ, Furr-Holden D, Edwards-Johnson J, Webb B, Patton JW, Ezekwemba NC, et al. . Are clinicians contributing to excess African American COVID-19 deaths? Unbeknownst to them, they may be. Health Equity. (2020) 4:139–41. 10.1089/heq.2020.0015 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yancy CW. COVID-19 and African Americans. JAMA. (2020) 323:1891–2. 10.1001/jama.2020.6548 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types