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Review
. 2021 Feb 4;8(3):ofab064.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab064. eCollection 2021 Mar.

Disentangling the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Health Disparities in African Americans: Biological, Environmental, and Social Factors

Geetanjali Saini  1 , Monica H Swahn  2 , Ritu Aneja  1
Affiliations
Review

Disentangling the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Health Disparities in African Americans: Biological, Environmental, and Social Factors

Geetanjali Saini et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

The stark racial disparities related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States, wherein minority populations are disproportionately getting infected and succumbing to the disease, is of grave concern. It is critical to understand and address the underlying causes of these disparities that are complex and driven by interacting environmental, social and biological factors. In this article we focus on the African American community and examine how social and environmental determinants of health intersect with biological factors (comorbidities, underlying genetics, host immunity, vitamin D levels, epigenetics) to exacerbate risk for morbidity and mortality.

Keywords: African Americans; COVID-19; comorbidities; epigenetics; health disparities.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(A) Disproportionate overall actual coronavirus disease 2019 mortality rates in different racial groups in the United States. (B) Age-adjusted mortality rates by which racial groups are more likely to have died when compared to non-Hispanic whites.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
United States states that are experiencing race-related, age-adjusted coronavirus disease 2019 disparity in mortality rates are marked on the map, and corresponding data are displayed in the table (in decreasing order of absolute disparity).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Health disparities lie at the crossroads of various biological, environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural factors, as outlined in the graphic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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