April 28, 2020

Regional differences in reported Covid-19 cases show genetic correlations with higher socio-economic status and better health, potentially confounding studies on the genetics of disease susceptibility

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Transmission

• This regional genome-wide association study included data from 396,042 individuals in England to investigate the association between genetic variants and regional differences in reported COVID-19 cases. The author found a temporary positive relationship between COVID-19 cases and regional socioeconomic status at the beginning of the outbreak, the opposite direction of expected disease increasing effects, and suggests that this may be due to higher rates of international travel, more social contacts, and/or better testing capacities.

Abdellaoui (April 28, 2020). Regional differences in reported Covid-19 cases show genetic correlations with higher socio-economic status and better health, potentially confounding studies on the genetics of disease susceptibility. Pre-print downloaded Apr 28 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.24.20075333