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White Counties Stand Apart: The Primacy of Residential Segregation in COVID-19 and HIV Diagnoses

Emerging epidemiological data suggest that white Americans have a lower risk of acquiring COVID-19. Although many studies have pointed to the role of systemic racism in COVID-19 racial/ethnic disparities, few studies have examined the contribution of racial segregation. Residential segregation is as...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Millett, Gregorio A., Honermann, Brian, Jones, Austin, Lankiewicz, Elise, Sherwood, Jennifer, Blumenthal, Susan, Sayas, Asal
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7585613/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32833494
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/apc.2020.0155
Descripción
Sumario:Emerging epidemiological data suggest that white Americans have a lower risk of acquiring COVID-19. Although many studies have pointed to the role of systemic racism in COVID-19 racial/ethnic disparities, few studies have examined the contribution of racial segregation. Residential segregation is associated with differing health outcomes by race/ethnicity for various diseases, including HIV. This commentary documents differing HIV and COVID-19 outcomes and service delivery by race/ethnicity and the crucial role of racial segregation. Using publicly available Census data, we divide US counties into quintiles by percentage of non-Hispanic white residents and examine HIV diagnoses and COVID-19 per 100,000 population. HIV diagnoses decrease as the proportion of white residents increase across US counties. COVID-19 diagnoses follow a similar pattern: Counties with the highest proportion of white residents have the fewest cases of COVID-19 irrespective of geographic region or state political party inclination (i.e., red or blue states). Moreover, comparatively fewer COVID-19 diagnoses have occurred in primarily white counties throughout the duration of the US COVID-19 pandemic. Systemic drivers place racial minorities at greater risk for COVID-19 and HIV. Individual-level characteristics (e.g., underlying health conditions for COVID-19 or risk behavior for HIV) do not fully explain excess disease burden in racial minority communities. Corresponding interventions must use structural- and policy-level solutions to address racial and ethnic health disparities.