Credit: Flockine, Pixabay
A comprehensive modeling study sheds new light on socioeconomic-based mechanisms that drive disparities in influenza burden across the U.S. Casey Zipfel of Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and colleagues present this analysis in the open-access journal
PLOS Computational Biology.
People of lower socioeconomic status experience increased burden of influenza. Past studies have identified various factors that underlie this health inequity, including decreased flu vaccination, lack of access to paid sick leave, lack of healthcare access, increased susceptibility to infection, and different exposure patterns. However, no previous study has considered all of these factors at once.