Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Publications
find publications by category +
Translate page:

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Receipt of Medications for Treatment of COVID-19 - United States, March 2020-August 2021.

Authors:
Jennifer L Wiltz Amy K Feehan NoelleAngelique M Molinari Chandresh N Ladva Benedict I Truman Jeffrey Hall Jason P Block Sonja A Rasmussen Joshua L Denson William E Trick Mark G Weiner Emily Koumans Adi Gundlapalli Thomas W Carton Tegan K Boehmer

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022 Jan 21;71(3):96-102. Epub 2022 Jan 21.

The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified longstanding health care and social inequities, resulting in disproportionately high COVID-19-associated illness and death among members of racial and ethnic minority groups (1). Equitable use of effective medications (2) could reduce disparities in these severe outcomes (3). Monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, initially received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2020. mAbs are typically administered in an outpatient setting via intravenous infusion or subcutaneous injection and can prevent progression of COVID-19 if given after a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result or for postexposure prophylaxis in patients at high risk for severe illness. Dexamethasone, a commonly used steroid, and remdesivir, an antiviral drug that received EUA from FDA in May 2020, are used in inpatient settings and help prevent COVID-19 progression (2). No large-scale studies have yet examined the use of mAb by race and ethnicity. Using COVID-19 patient electronic health record data from 41 U.S. health care systems that participated in the PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, this study assessed receipt of medications for COVID-19 treatment by race (White, Black, Asian, and Other races [including American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and multiple or Other races]) and ethnicity (Hispanic or non-Hispanic). Relative disparities in mAb** treatment among all patients (805,276) with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result and in dexamethasone and remdesivir treatment among inpatients (120,204) with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result were calculated. Among all patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 test results, the overall use of mAb was infrequent, with mean monthly use at 4% or less for all racial and ethnic groups. Hispanic patients received mAb 58% less often than did non-Hispanic patients, and Black, Asian, or Other race patients received mAb 22%, 48%, and 47% less often, respectively, than did White patients during November 2020-August 2021. Among inpatients, disparities were different and of lesser magnitude: Hispanic inpatients received dexamethasone 6% less often than did non-Hispanic inpatients, and Black inpatients received remdesivir 9% more often than did White inpatients. Vaccines and preventive measures are the best defense against infection; use of COVID-19 medications postexposure or postinfection can reduce morbidity and mortality and relieve strain on hospitals but are not a substitute for COVID-19 vaccination. Public health policies and programs centered around the specific needs of communities can promote health equity (4). Equitable receipt of outpatient treatments, such as mAb and antiviral medications, and implementation of prevention practices are essential to reducing existing racial and ethnic inequities in severe COVID-19-associated illness and death.

Download full-text PDF

 Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7103e1DOI Listing
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8774154PMC
January 2022

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

positive sars-cov-2
16
sars-cov-2 test
16
racial ethnic
16
test result
12
covid-19
9
patients received
8
2020-august 2021
8
received mab
8
inpatients received
8
illness death
8
black asian
8
health care
8
covid-19-associated illness
8
receipt medications
8
patients
7
mab
6
inpatients
6
received
6
medications
5
health
5

Keyword Occurance

Similar Publications

First importations of SARS-CoV-2 P.1 and P.2 variants from Brazil to Spain and early community transmission.

Authors:
Pedro J Sola Campoy Sergio Buenestado-Serrano Laura Pérez-Lago Cristina Rodriguez-Grande Pilar Catalán Cristina Andrés-Zayas Luis Alcalá Carmen Losada Carla Rico-Luna Patricia Muñoz Darío García de Viedma

Enferm Infecc Microbiol Clin (Engl Ed) 2022 May;40(5):262-265

Servicio de Microbiología Clínica y Enfermedades Infecciosas, Gregorio Marañón General University Hospital, Madrid, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón (IiSGM), Madrid, Spain; CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Spain. Electronic address:

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2variants of concern (VOC) have been described in the UK (B.1.1. Read More

View Article and Full-Text PDF
May 2022
Similar Publications

Scent dogs in detection of COVID-19: triple-blinded randomised trial and operational real-life screening in airport setting.

Authors:
Anu Kantele Juuso Paajanen Soile Turunen Sari H Pakkanen Anu Patjas Laura Itkonen Elina Heiskanen Maija Lappalainen Loic Desquilbet Olli Vapalahti Anna Hielm-Björkman

BMJ Glob Health 2022 May;7(5)

Department of Equine and Small Animal Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

Objective: To estimate scent dogs' diagnostic accuracy in identification of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 in comparison with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We conducted a randomised triple-blinded validation trial, and a real-life study at the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport, Finland.

Methods: Four dogs were trained to detect COVID-19 using skin swabs from individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR. Read More

View Article and Full-Text PDF
May 2022
Similar Publications

The risk of death or unplanned readmission after discharge from a COVID-19 hospitalization in Alberta and Ontario.

Authors:
Finlay A McAlister Yuan Dong Anna Chu Xuesong Wang Erik Youngson Kieran L Quinn Amol Verma Jacob A Udell Amy Y X Yu Fahad Razak Chester Ho Charles de Mestral Heather J Ross Carl van Walraven Douglas S Lee

CMAJ 2022 May;194(19):E666-E673

Division of General Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (McAlister), University of Alberta; The Alberta Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research Support Unit (McAlister, Dong, Youngson), Edmonton, Alta.; ICES (Chu, Wang, Quinn, Udell, de Mestral, van Walraven, Lee); University of Toronto (Chu, de Mestral, Ross); Department of Medicine, Divisions of General Internal Medicine and Palliative Care (Quinn), Sinai Health System, University of Toronto; Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute (Verma, Razak), St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto; Department of Medicine (Verma, Razak), University of Toronto; Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (Verma, Razak), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto; University Health Network (Udell, Ross, Lee); Department of Medicine (Neurology) (Yu), University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ont.; Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Ho), Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta.; Department of Surgery (de Mestral), Unity Health Toronto; Peter Munk Cardiac Center (Ross, Lee), Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Department of Medicine and School of Epidemiology and Public Health (van Walraven), University of Ottawa, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ont.

Background: The frequency of readmissions after COVID-19 hospitalizations is uncertain, as is whether current readmission prediction equations are useful for discharge risk stratification of COVID-19 survivors or for comparing among hospitals. We sought to determine the frequency and predictors of death or unplanned readmission after a COVID-19 hospital discharge.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all adults (≥ 18 yr) who were discharged alive from hospital after a nonpsychiatric, nonobstetric, acute care admission for COVID-19 between Jan. Read More

View Article and Full-Text PDF
May 2022
Similar Publications

SARS-CoV-2 saliva testing using reverse transcriptase - polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR): A Systematic Review.

Authors:
Eyituoyo Okoturo Mary Amure

Int J Infect Dis 2022 May 13. Epub 2022 May 13.

Intern, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Dept, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria.

Introduction: There remain challenges using SARS-CoV-2 RNA diagnostic assays in the respiratory tract, in a pandemic. More so certain countries such as Hong-Kong have already included saliva as part of their mass-testing protocol. The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review on the alternate use of saliva as a SARS-CoV2 RNA testing specimen in the context of mass screening with RT-PCR. Read More

View Article and Full-Text PDF
May 2022
Similar Publications

Neuro-inflammatory disease following SARS-CoV-2 infection in children.

Authors:
M Aubart C J Roux C Durrleman C Gins M Hully M Kossorotoff C Gitiaux R Levy F Moulin A Debray Z Belhadjer E Georget R Kom Tchameni P Blanc S Wehbi M Mazeghrane J Tencer V Gajdos S Rouget L De Pontual R Basmaci K Yacouben F Angoulvant M Leruez-Ville D Sterlin F Rozenberg M Robert S Y Zhang N Boddaert I Desguerre

J Pediatr 2022 May 13. Epub 2022 May 13.

Paediatric Neurology Department, Necker-Enfants malades Hospital, AP-HP, University of Paris, Paris, France.

Objective: To describe neurologic, radiologic and laboratory features in children with central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory disease complicating SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Study Design: We focused on CNS inflammatory diseases in children referred from 12 hospitals in the Paris area to Necker-Enfants Malades Reference Centre.

Results: We identified 19 children who had a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection and manifest a variety of CNS inflammatory diseases: encephalopathy, cerebellar ataxia, ADEM, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) or optic neuritis. Read More

View Article and Full-Text PDF
May 2022
Similar Publications
}