Mixed race, higher risk or not?

[BrokenBrit]

I am possibly overthinking this, but like so many others, I am concerned coming out of lockdown, especially as myself and family members are in the ‘vulnerable’ (but not shielding) group, we also have hospital staff family members too, so we are trying to cover off all the risk factors it appears!

I have read the shocking statistics for BAME people being considerably more vulnerable than white people to Covid. As I am mixed race does that mean my risk is extra high with having an underlying conditions? Mixed people are never really talked about so I was just pondering and wondered if anyone knew.

Following as mixed race DP is going back to work and is also asthmatic

It depends why it's true. Correlation isn't causation.

If it's vitamin D, then get outside. If it's socioeconomic factors then as an individual your own situation informs your decisions. If it's a genetic factor then it's chance what you've inherited. If it's exposure then if you're not a healthcare worker you're safer.

If you're young and female, you're missing a couple of other risk factors.

I read earlier that the higher death rate of BAME people is thought to be due to their higher representation in public facing, high risk jobs, e.g. nursing, bus driving, taxi driving etc rather than an inherent medical reason. So if that's accurate you wouldn't be at higher risk than anyone else (unless, of course, you have one of those jobs).

At this point no-one knows. It looks likely to be a combination of socio-economic/deprivation, occupational, blood type in some groups, vitamin D for some people . I did look at the figures that were released recently and thought mixed race people were noticeably under represented compared to black and other minority ethnic groups.

My dh is mixed race and has some health problems that only come with his Asian side so I expect it could be the same with the virus. 😔

I’m also mixed and also following this closely in the press. The thing is, even vitamin D levels can be linked to socio-economic background, as wealthier people can take supplements that others may not be able to afford. Equally, as said upthread, more BAME people are in jobs where they are put at risk. I was interested when they said that the percentage of NHS workers who had sadly died and were BAME was greater (to a degree that appeared significant) than the total percentage of BAME workers in the NHS.

Interested and scared that is

I am mixed race black and white and my understanding is that my risk is the same as a white person there has been some research and an article published showing the risk level Can’t remember where the data is though as so much reading done of late

I think it probably depends on each individual person, as even if you are the same ethnic mix as another person, you still might not have exactly the same proportion of genes expressed in the same way from each parent.

I'd say you are slightly more at risk than Caucasians. I used to work in a specialist respiratory centre where we did tests on lung functions. There is a physical difference in different ethnicities, in terms of the thoracic (chest) capacity size compared to the rest of the body. 2 people, exact same height, weight etc. The Caucasian person (in general) will have a larger thoracic space and shorter legs, in comparison to the same sized black/Asian person who would generally have longer legs and a small thoracic cavity.

To counter this known difference, we had to input a certain factors into the machines when doing tests, so we didn't discriminate different ethnicities or end of up with a reading much lower than expected. From memory, Caucasian was inputted as 100%, Asian 90%, Black/Afro Carribean as 87%. If someone was mixed race, we'd input a reading of half/half their ethnicities. (eg Caucasian and Asian, we'd use a factor of 95%).

I've noticed, that the death rates amongst BAME, match exactly the same as the proportions we used- highest deaths for Black/Afro Carribean, then Asian, then Caucasian. Whether this has anything to do with physical lung size, or the many other factors is hard to say at this stage, but its something I haven't seen mentioned as yet.

Thanks for the comments, like with everything with Covid with it being so new, a lot is learning as we go.

@Anotherloss that is really interesting reading, thank you for sharing. Off topic but it has got me wondering as to why so many black athletes are so successful with a relatively reduced thoracic capacity?

Some slight misinformation up thread. The risk for black people of Caribbean descent is much lower than those of African descent & Indian/Pakistani heritage. It will be very interesting to see why the figures are what they are. Genetic bad luck or societal disadvantage.

I’m glad you posted this as I wondered this too when I heard black people were more at risk, I’m mixed race black (Caribbean) and white British and my children’s dad is black (Caribbean) it does make you wonder where you stand with this. I read on another thread that mixed race people are at the same risk as white people but I’m not sure if that is true.

@BrokenBrit- Off topic but it has got me wondering as to why so many black athletes are so successful with a relatively reduced thoracic capacity?

Many black athletes are good at running events, where the slightly longer leg might be an advantage (think of the winners for 50m, 100m and even marathons). Caucasian athletes tend to be better at events where a bigger thoracic cavity might be an advantage, such as swimming. There are obviously exceptions, and its just a correlation with lung size that seems to correlate to BAME deaths also.

@anotherloss I thought South Asians were classed as Caucasian?

If it's vitamin D, then get outside.

What is your BMI?

www.nhs.uk/news/obesity/obesity-may-cause-low-vitamin-d-levels/

I have read that mixed race people have a very similar risk to white people: www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/07/black-people-four-times-more-likely-to-die-from-covid-19-ons-finds

There was a piece on the news yesterday exploring the hypothesis that the reason for higher fatality rates in BAME healthcare workers may be to do with them being significantly more likely to be assigned to higher risk duties/areas and having less confidence to stand up for themselves. If that is true then it is shameful.

Has anyone seen any figure comparing the fatality rates for BAME healthcare worker versus BAME fatalities in the general population? That would help indicate whether there was something in the theory.

My mixed race (White/East Asian) boys had it mildly (though not tested).
They both get vitamin D supplements (gummys for DS1 and drops for DS2).
DH (Asian) either had it asymptomatically or didn't catch it at all.
I felt awful for a week (white, young, slim female) but I was 8 weeks post partum so probably already run down from pregnancy/no sleep/breastfeeding.

Are BAME workers (healthcare, security etc.) more likely to undertake night shifts? This would contribute to lower levels of vitamin D - as well as increasing the risk of diabetes and other metabolic disorders.

I have been told that the risk is most probably higher I’m mixed Asian/English by hcp when discussing this at work

It’s not something I think about too

One of the reasons being conditions you are more likely to be susceptible to puts you in the higher risk category

South Asians are Caucasian but have a number of health issues that are more prevalent

@TooTrueToBeGood from reading about some of the older hospital doctors who have died, they thought it was their vocation to help out in such a risky area as they have done it before.

So health workers really have to be divided up to exclude those over retirement age. The reason why all doctors can't be excluded is that I personally know and have known those directed down certain specialities due to their country of origin and level of qualifications/experience when they arrived in the UK.

Interesting question!
Can give you my (untested but pretty certain) COVID experience along with my adult DCs.
All have BMIs in healthy range.

We are a mixed race experiment ideal for this

I’m mixed Asian/white and got ill mid March, probably during commute or customer facing at work. Not as poorly as I’ve been when I had flu in the past. Have been taking Vit D supplements for years after low levels flagged before. Take other supplements too as have fibromyalgia and IBS.
Passed it on to my kids who became ill over the following days.
DD’s father has Caribbean parents so she’s 1/4 Caucasian- she was much worse than me and was in bed for a few days. She’s now got vit D supplements for her whole family.

DS’s father is white so he’s 3/4 Caucasian. He seemed less poorly than me although more exhausted by it. He’s physically much fitter than us both (personal trainer).

Both my DP and DD’s husband who were constantly with us appeared to escape unscathed. Both black Caribbean descent and a little ‘cuddly’.

If you can make any sense of that I’d love to hear!

I’m worried as I’m white, Indian and African.

Both sides have health problems but the Indian/African side all have type 2 diabetes despite being slim, stomach and bowel problems, some have COPD, increased blood cancers etc. Not my parents and grandparents but further back and amidst other cousins there have been first cousin marriages which most likely have had an impact on our blood line and the strong genetic link with all of our health problems. My father is a very unwell man in his 70s but still working as an HCP.

I have some sort of an autoimmune/endocrine disease that’s not been able to be identified. It seems close to Addisons but it’s not Addisons. Thought by the most recent specialist I saw to be down to strong family history of thyroid diseases, coeliacs and high Oestrogen levels throughout from my White parent and Diabetes and IBS from my Indian/African parent.

I’m really scared about any of us catching it. I do feel higher risk due to my ethnicity.