Black Individuals Less Often Vaccinated Against Influenza, SARS-CoV-2, RSV Than Whites
AT A GLANCE
- The neighborhood environment is a social determinant of health; people living in disadvantaged neighborhoods are less likely to be vaccinated for influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory syncytial virus.
- Black individuals are less likely to be vaccinated for influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV than White individuals, even when they live in similarly disadvantaged neighborhoods.
- Black individuals represented 37% of the most vulnerable group, but only 3.2% of the least vulnerable, despite making up 14% of the study population.
- The findings underscore the need for tailored interventions to address disparities in preventive care for acute respiratory infections.
The overall vaccination rates for influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV remain below 50%, with Black individuals less likely to be vaccinated than white individuals, even when living in similarly disadvantaged neighborhoods, according to new findings presented at IDWeek 2024.
The study used the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) —which looks at socioeconomic status, household characteristics, race/ethnicity and housing and transportation as factors that affect health — to determine whether people living in disadvantaged neighborhoods were less frequently vaccinated against common respiratory viral infections. Vaccination rates were lower in disadvantaged neighborhoods, while emergency department visits for acute respiratory infections were more prevalent in those areas.
The study analyzed data from 341,029 patients who were diagnosed with acute respiratory infections at University Hospitals of Cleveland between October 2023 and April 2024. Black individuals were overrepresented among the highly vulnerable population at 37% and underrepresented among the least vulnerable population at 3.2%, despite making up just 14% of the study’s population. Researchers matched patients’ demographics and vaccination statuses with SVI census tract-level public data.
Geospatial analysis reinforces these findings, as researchers identified lower vaccination rates in areas with higher social vulnerability. This spatial pattern corresponds to geographic, racial and socioeconomic disparities in the Cleveland metropolitan area, which has historically ranked among the top 10 most racially segregated metropolitan areas in the country, according to analyses from the Center for Economic Studies at the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Even when controlling for demographic factors, household income, health insurance coverage and geographic location, the study’s findings maintain that neighborhood factors and race are significantly associated with vaccination status against common respiratory viruses,” said Elie Saade, MD, medical director of infection control and quality at University Hospitals of Cleveland. “Disparities this vast are not to be overlooked — they require multifaceted interventions that meet people where they are socially and increase access to essential preventive measures.”
In addition to Dr. Saade, study co-authors include: Zainab Albar, MBBS, PhD; Christopher Ladikos, MPH; Daniel J. Tisch, PhD, MPH; and Robert Salata, MD.
About IDWeek
IDWeek is the joint annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the HIV Medicine Association, the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists. IDWeek is a recognized forum for peer-reviewed presentations of new research on scientific advances and bench-to-bedside approaches in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and epidemiology of infectious diseases, including HIV, across the lifespan. For more information, visit idweek.org.