# Racial Disparity and the Virus **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [May 1, 2020, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-disparity-and-the-virus/853001 "2020-05-01T20:32:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-disparity-and-the-virus/853001/21 "2020-05-06T03:25:16Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Thanks for the info and discussion on the reasons. Note that I was also looking for stats … [Stats.](https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/05/health/coronavirus-african-americans-study/index.html) > [@](#): > > CNN)There’s new evidence more African Americans may be dying from coronavirus in the United States than whites or other ethnic groups, according to a new study. > > Black Americans represent 13.4% of the American population, according to the US Census Bureau, but counties with higher black populations account for more than half of all Covid-19 cases and almost 60% of deaths, the study found. … > > … “COVID-19 deaths were higher in disproportionally black rural and small metro counties,” the study noted. … Note RURAL and small metro. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-disparity-and-the-virus/853001/22 "2020-05-06T12:07:11Z")
> [@Tigers2B1](#): > > And right on cue — a study linking vitamin D deficiency insufficiency to covid-19 outcomes. Adjusting for age and comorbidities a person who is vitamin D deficient is 10 times more likely to die with covid-19. > > [https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract\_id=3586555](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3586555) I just came here to post that. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2020, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-disparity-and-the-virus/853001/23 "2020-05-06T12:16:19Z")
Oh, wait, I came to post a different study with a similar result: > **[Vitamin D insufficiency is prevalent in severe COVID-19](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.24.20075838v1)** > > Background COVID-19 is a major pandemic that has killed more than 196,000 people. The COVID-19 disease course is strikingly divergent. Approximately 80-85% of patients experience mild or no symptoms, while the remainder develop severe disease. The... > [@](#): > > **Vitamin D Insufficiency is Prevalent in Severe COVID-19** > View ORCID ProfileFrank H. Lau, Rinku Majumder, Radbeh Torabi, Fouad Saeg, Ryan Hoffman, Jeffrey D. Cirillo, Patrick Greiffenstein > doi: [Vitamin D insufficiency is prevalent in severe COVID-19 | medRxiv](https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.24.20075838) > This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice. > [Vitamin D Insufficiency=CDI] > … > To better define the VDI-COVID-19 link, we determined the prevalence of VDI among our COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Methods: In an Institutional Review Board approved study performed at a single, tertiary care academic medical center, the medical records of COVID-19 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Subjects were included for whom serum 25-hydroxycholecalcifoerol (25OHD) levels were determined. COVID-19-relevant data were compiled and analyzed. We determined the frequency of VDI among COVID-19 patients to evaluate the likelihood of a VDI-COVID-19 relationship. Results: Twenty COVID-19 patients with serum 25OHD levels were identified; 65.0% required ICU admission.The VDI prevalence in ICU patients was 84.6%, vs. 57.1% in floor patients. Strikingly, 100% of ICU patients less than 75 years old had VDI. Coagulopathy was present in 62.5% of ICU COVID-19 patients, and 92.3% were lymphocytopenic. Conclusions: VDI is highly prevalent in severe COVID-19 patients. VDI and severe COVID-19 share numerous associations including hypertension, obesity, male sex, advanced age, concentration in northern climates, coagulopathy, and immune dysfunction. Thus, we suggest that prospective, randomized controlled studies of VDI in COVID-19 patients are warranted. It’s small and retrospective, but suggestive. The link i have is to the abstract, but the full PDF of the paper is also available at that site. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-disparity-and-the-virus/853001/24 "2020-06-03T10:59:13Z")
Any new info on deaths by race? Seems like the time is right for that kind of reporting. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2020, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-disparity-and-the-virus/853001/25 "2020-06-03T11:11:54Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Any new info on deaths by race? Seems like the time is right for that kind of reporting. According to [this](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/27/as-us-coronavirus-deaths-cross-100000-black-americans-bear-disproportionate-share-of-fatalities.html) article, as of May 20th, black Americans comprised 23% of the COVID-19 death despite comprising 13% of the general population. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-disparity-and-the-virus/853001/26 "2020-06-08T17:38:36Z")
I’m starting to wonder if there really is a racial disparity. You’d think this board would be all over the issue. Perhaps black deaths are ok in order to fix the underlying social issues. (Not my position BTW) ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-disparity-and-the-virus/853001/27 "2020-06-08T18:14:36Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I’m starting to wonder if there really is a racial disparity. You’d think this board would be all over the issue. Perhaps black deaths are ok in order to fix the underlying social issues. (Not my position BTW) Insert \ here. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-disparity-and-the-virus/853001/28 "2020-06-08T18:45:33Z")
Look at the average white non-Hispanic male income of $36,785 vs. Black income, which is $23,738. Better jobs mean health coverage and the money to cover costs not taken care of by insurance. It means better senior facilities and better retirement care. COVID-19 disparities aren’t a separate and new problem, they just illustrate a problem that has existed all along. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-disparity-and-the-virus/853001/29 "2020-06-09T01:12:52Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I’m starting to wonder if there really is a racial disparity. You’d think this board would be all over the issue. Perhaps black deaths are ok in order to fix the underlying social issues. (Not my position BTW) The problem seems to be that the disparity isn’t obviously explained. Income and access to healthcare may have a small effect. Higher incidence of comorbidities is clearly important, but is not true across the world. Vitamin D looks like it maybe a factor. But as described in other threads, there are other puzzling questions. It isn’t impossible that there is a significant genetic component. The question of ACE2 receptors comes up as well. There is a very significant disparity of deaths of males over females. The board isn’t all over that either. But it is very real. Again, it isn’t clear why it should be so. If the racial link was clearly socio-economic in origin it would be easy. But it doesn’t look as if it is. It isn’t just an issue in the USA. Vitamin D is coupled to skin colour. But it looks as if there are significant questions that are not related to a person’s colour. Personally I suspect there is a very real genetic component that will eventually come to light. The racial disparities are not just black/white. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-disparity-and-the-virus/853001.md?page=1)