Analysis: Hispanic, Black, and Native Americans have carried the burden of COVID-19 pandemic
A UCLA Fielding School of Public Health-led team has found that Hispanic, Black, and Native Americans have carried the burden of the pandemic, both in overall mortality and specifically in years of potential life lost, in an analysis of 45 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (D.C.). COVID-19 certainly didn t cause these racial/ethnic disparities in health outcomes, but it did highlight and bring unprecedented national attention to long-standing societal and health inequalities that many communities of color in the U.S. face, said Dr. Ron Brookmeyer, dean of the Fielding School and distinguished professor of biostatistics. It is imperative that we rise to the challenge of addressing the health needs of communities of color, both during the U.S. COVID-19 epidemic and long after its conclusion.
Two common blood pressure drugs are not tied to increased risk of COVID-19
Research published in the peer-reviewed journal
The Lancet Digital Health and co-led by a UCLA Fielding School of Public Health faculty member has found that two widely used types of blood pressure drugs are not tied to an increased risk of COVID-19 infection or complications.
The international team co-led by Dr. Marc Suchard, UCLA Fielding School professor of biostatistics, found that there was no increased risk of COVID-19 diagnosis, hospitalization, or subsequent complications for users of either angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). The study, the world s largest, examined a group of more than 1.1 million patients in the United States and Spain using antihypertensives, researchers said.