Health disparity and COVID‐19—A retrospective analysis

Abstract

Background and Aims According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 75.7 million confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), a global pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ( SARS‐CoV‐2), have been reported so far. Researchers are working relentlessly to find effective solutions to this catastrophe, using genomic sequence‐based investigation, immunological analysis, and more. The role of health disparity has also emerged as an intriguing factor that made a huge impact on the lives of people. Methods We analyzed various factors that triggered the health disparity in the United States of America along with the rate of COVID‐19 morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, we have also focused on the State of Mississippi, which is suffering from an extreme health disparity. Data have been obtained from publicly available data sources including, Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Mississippi State Department of Health. Correlation analysis of the dataset has been performed using R software. Results Our analysis suggested that the COVID‐19 infection rate per 100 000 people is directly correlated with the increasing number of the African American population in the United States. We have found a strong correlation between the obesity and the COVID‐19 cases as well. All the counties in Mississippi demonstrate a strong correlation between a higher number of African American population to COVID‐19 cases and obesity. Our data also indicate that a higher number of African American populations are facing socioeconomic disadvantages, which enhance their chances of becoming vulnerable to pre‐existing ailments such as obesity, type‐2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Conclusion We proposed a possible explanation of increased COVID‐19 infectivity in the African American population in the United States. This work has highlighted the intriguing factors that increased the health disparity at the time of the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Impact of environmental and socio‐economic stressors leading to unequal distribution of COVID‐19 incidences in the state of Louisiana

“…In our study we indeed found poverty to be a significant factor as almost half of the parishes in the cancer alley region have a higher poverty level than the Parishes which have lower COVID‐19 cases. A few studies have indicated race to be a predictor of higher incidences of COVID‐19 (Sarkar et al., 2021 ). We strongly refute this point, and it seems one of the most prominent findings of our work.…”

Obesity Modifies the Association of Race/Skin Color and COVID-19 Mortality: Analysis of a Retrospective Cohort From Southern Brazil

“…Since the beginning of this pandemic, studies have been denouncing racial/ethnic inequalities related to both infection and mortality rates4. As early as the rst months of 2020, analyses showed a higher risk of hospitalization and mortality among the Black population in the United States [5,6] and also in Brazil7. In addition to socioeconomic disparities, possible explanations for this association require an understanding of how racism poses di culties in implementing social distancing and the presence of pre-existing chronic noncommunicable diseases, in addition to di culties experienced by Black and Indigenous populations in accessing quality health care or receiving appropriate treatment in health care facilities [7][8][9].…”