A study of 19 million patients finds that blacks and people of Asian descent are twice as likely to be infected with the virus • The cause: poverty, overcrowding and work that cannot be done from home
Blacks and people of Asian descent are at a much higher risk of contracting the corona virus than white people, according to a new study published in the medical journal Lancet.
India: Over 3.5 million people infected in Corona // Photo: Reuters
According to the large-scale study, which surveyed 50 scientific publications in the field that examined 19 million corona patients worldwide, black people are twice as likely to be infected with corona as white people, and the figure in people of Asian descent is even two-and-a-half times higher.
The study is of great importance as this is the first time that risk groups have been tested that should be the first in line to receive a vaccine when it is distributed worldwide, as well as shaping the fact that almost half of the studies reviewed have been peer-reviewed and approved.
Beyond the actual infection with the virus, the researchers note that there is also a statistical gap in the number of deaths to the detriment of black people and people of Asian descent, however this finding is qualified by the fact that it has not been tested by other experts.
The publication confirms trends that have already been published in the UK, according to which blacks in the country are three times more likely to die from the virus than whites in England and Wales.
When it comes to women of Caribbean descent, their risk of dying from corona is twice as high as that of a white woman.
When the researchers looked for an explanation for this fact, it turned out that the reasons were not health issues like diabetes or obesity, but the fact that these were people with worse living conditions than white people, and that they were more out of the house and working outside.
Professor Manish Park, an expert in infectious diseases at the University of Leicester in the UK, commented on the study, saying that "these findings show that minority groups live in greater poverty, with more people in each household and greater multi-generational stratification. "They can be performed remotely, from home. These are important findings when discussing the prevention of infection and the spread of the disease."
Nishi Chaturwoody, a professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of London College, said "the study confirms previous concerns and evidence that minority groups are more affected by the corona plague".
However, the researcher noted that "it is more important to try to examine in depth this sensitivity and its origins. I estimate that there is no genetic variation here, but poor living and health conditions that cause this phenomenon. "Who to vaccinate first: adults, people living in a multi-generational economy, people with heart disease and diabetes or perhaps women, because they are more at risk of developing long-term coronary heart disease? At the moment I doubt we will have an exact definition of who to prioritize first in receiving it."