May 11, 2020

Structural Vulnerability in the United States Revealed in Three Waves of Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Public Health Policy and Practice

• Three overlapping epidemiologic waves of spread of COVID-19 are linked to different structural vulnerabilities. 1) Early community transmission reaching nursing homes and long- term care facilities with high prevalence of chronic disease and limited health monitoring. 2) Transmission and broad community spread that has disproportionally affected African Americans, undocumented and documented Hispanic immigrants, and members of the Native American Navajo Nation with high of prevalence chronic disease, lack of health insurance, and environmental disparities. 3) Custodial settings, including immigration detention centers, jails, and prisons with high prevalence chronic diseases and crowded unsanitary conditions.  
• There is an urgent need to reduce prevailing structural vulnerabilities that result in social inequities and health disparities involving large segments of the U.S. population. 

Solis et al. (May 7, 2020). Structural Vulnerability in the United States Revealed in Three Waves of Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.20-0391