All the doctors dying are Asian - what’s going on?

[MMXVi]

And why is nobody asking questions about this?

I’m over-invested in the answer because my sister is a doctor very much on the frontline, and we’re of Indian ethnicity. I want her to be protected and if she’s facing some sort of additional genetic, behavioural or dietary risk I want that flagged up to her and other doctors PDQ, not to mention their patients of the same ethnicity.

If I see another glib and possibly slightly racist response about BAME people being poorer and therefore more prone to underlying conditions I’ll flip my lid totally by the way. There’s a world of difference between an Asian hospital consultant on £150k in stockbrokerville and someone Asian on the breadline in an overcrowded council flat, and it isn’t helpful to lump them together in this instance.

So far, I’ve seen a thread about Vitamin D3 deficiency making darker-skinned people more susceptible to respiratory illness. That makes sense to me, and I’ve already ordered some from Amazon for my sister as well as the rest of our family.

My mother (not medically qualified) has a touching belief in the anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic powers of turmeric so I’m making daal as we speak.

My dad (retired very senior doctor and the veteran of more than one pandemic) says probably multi-factorial, but as he’s currently recovering from cancer and therefore very high risk, I’m not going to make him elaborate.

Any other ideas and theories?

Anyone else concerned about why the press have neglected to mention this glaringly obvious information?

Are the journalists still able to ask questions after the press conferences? If so we really need one of the media outlets to pick this story up and ask Matt Hancock his thoughts.

In fact this has been noted and there is the beginning of some research into the susceptibilty of some ethnic groups to the virus. Obviously there are a lot of other issues to take into account

What will be interesting is how many BAME medical staff were not born in the UK and therefore were not part of a BCG vaccination programme like their British born counterparts.

@justanotherneighinparadise

It would be pointless asking this question of Matt Hancock at this stage
The journalists are a total pain at the best of times, this question cannot be answered yet

I welcome research and some apparently very well informed people have posted very useful information on this thread.

But if nearly a third of the NHS are BAME origin, and there are underlying physiological reasons why they’re more at risk - we need a solution way faster than a public enquiry or an academic study.

@RedToothBrush everyone who works in the NHS has had the BCG

The most convincing theory advanced on this thread is that the NHS recommended level of D3 is simply too low to be protect BAME origin people from respiratory illness.

BCG ‘lasts’ only 20 years (?)

@Tartan that’s interesting - and again, not public knowledge. I should ask my dad or sister really, but do doctors not undergo medicals as part of their professional indemnity or insurance policies.

It’s the same in the US the figures in particular for deaths of African Americans is very high in relation the their numbers

www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/health-52242856

I’m shocked at the high proportion of bame doctors and nurses dying too.
The above link about nhs workers who have lost their lives to Covid is very sobering. I think there are only 3-4 white people on it. Questions need to be asked for sure. It’s so so sad.

I saw the NY article, @leckford - someone posted it up thread, together with an article about Swedish Somalis contracting Covid-19 which is worth a look.

But all the usual socio-demographic factors of poverty etc don’t apply in this particular scenario. Doctors are in the top 1% of UK taxpayers, and the nature of privilege is such that they themselves come from educated and affluent backgrounds (though this doesn’t suit the British colonial attitude, which still seems to prefer the “We saved you darkies from poverty and unprofessionalism by employing you in our marvellous NHS” narrative, as shown here by a fair few posters [.

everyone who works in the NHS has had the BCG

I do and I haven’t (had loads of other vaccines though)

I agree, I don’t think you have to have had the BCG vaccine to work in the NHS?

Isn't it simply because in both the UK and the US BAME communities, including doctors and other healthcare workers, are more likely to live in cities? And cities are hardest hit (due to high density housing, large populations, more travel).

If it were just the case that it was primarily affecting city-dwellers, @Toffee, the doctors dying would be representative of that city’s general population surely, but they’re not.

Not one of the doctors who has died is white and yet even in Britain’s most diverse city - London Zones 1 and 2 - white people are still 70% of the population.

I am aghast that HCP don’t have a full medical including vaccine records before they’re allowed to work.

You do have to supply vaccine details to Occ Health. And when my partner returned to UK work from South Africa he had to have a TB screen. But I don’t think vaccines are compulsory to work as a HCP...

I do remember a friend of mine having the MMR as an adult in order to do FY. But I doubt very much my dad has been having the BCG every 20 years - in fact I know he hasn’t.

I’m shocked by that, @justdont. Terrible. I have to have a thorough medical annually to indemnify my employer, and I have a desk job!

If you take high doses of vitamin D, please ensure you get one with a vit K2 blend.
I took high doses of vitamin D and ended up with toxic levels not being absorbed properly (I got tested)
This can cause inflammatory problems, which would be counter productive.

MMXVI That puts paid to my theory. In that case there are definitely more questions to be raised.
Is it a genetic/biology thing do people think? Solely down to Vitamin D levels? If so, how quickly do supplements work? Why is it affecting them more? And men more than women? Is it reasonable to suggest lifting lockdown early would impact more on BAME communities? So many questions.

Think you may need to read the full thread @Toffee. Lots of interesting explanations.

I am clinging to increased iron and D3 supplementation and weight loss because those are the things I can control, but if the very diagnostic guidelines (for BMI calculations) and vitamin sufficiency are wrong for BAME groups, it’s going to be a guessing game.

Just to clarify that I’m married to a doctor and daughter of another doctor, but not one myself! Definitely no annual medical taking place for any doctor I’ve known.

I live in an area with high proportion of BAME, and it's a huge worry not knowing whether the risk is physiological or environmental?

While I am hoping testing will be available soon for the rest of the population, would hope that it isn't done indiscriminately.

Also, what is the percentage of doctors/nurses in Italy/Spain dying from Covid 19? This would be the statistic to monitor also.

I'll do that, thanks OP. I hope it does help you. I hope too that more research is done on this as soon as possible. It's definitely needed.