British men of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage r some 20 percent more likely to die if they catch coronavirus but black people have no increased risk, the biggest study of ethnic diversity in death rates has found. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh discovered that South Asians had a greater chance of dying from the disease if they were sick enough to require hospital treatment.
Although other black, ethnic and minority groups were at greater risk of needing intensive care, they were no more likely to die than white people. The study found that South Asians with coronavirus were on average 12 years younger than those from other ethnicities, and were more likely to have diabetes. About two in five South Asians admitted to hospital hd diabetes, which accounted for around a fifth of the increases risk. Th rest were likely to be a mix of social, economic and genetic factors.
The study said that South Asians were more likely to have people-facing jobs and often lived in larger family groups. They were also n average more likely to live in socially deprived areas. Ewen Harrison, professor of surgery and data science at Edinburgh University, said"South Asians in front facing occupations in health and social care have shown an increased likelihood of getting an infection. They are most likely to be from parts of the country that are poorer, and there may be a biological effect, something in your genes that makes you more likely to get the disease and die from the disease". He added this raised the question of whether there should be different guidelines for South Asian nurses compared with a nurse of white ethnicity.
The Edinburgh study was based on data from 35,000 people in hospital with Covid-19 in England, Wales and Scotland from Feb 6 to May 8. It showed that across all ethnic groups the disease may be more severe, but it was only in South Asians where that translated into a grater likelihood of death.
This study was published in The Lancet and this article was copied from the Telegraph.
