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

Geetanjali Saini; Monica H Swahn; Ritu Aneja

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofab064

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

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021 Feb 4;8(3):ofab064. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab064. eCollection 2021 Mar.

Authors

Geetanjali Saini¹, Monica H Swahn², Ritu Aneja¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
² Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

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.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

R01 CA169127/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States