Black and brown children die from the coronavirus at a higher rate than their white counterparts, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
The report, released Tuesday, looked at 121 deaths of people younger than 21, as of the end of July. The young people had ailments similar to older adults such as lung problems such as asthma, obesity, heart issues and developmental conditions, The Associated Press reported.
The CDC announced among the studied population, 54 of the deaths were Latinos, 35 African American and 17 white, despite there being far more whites in the examined group than Blacks or Latinos.
Dr. Andrew Pavia, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at the University of Utah, called the report’s conclusions “striking.”
“It’s similar to what we see in adults,” Pavia, who didn’t participate in the report, told AP.
Pavia said many factors may have contributed to the higher rate of children of color than whites being killed by the coronavirus, such as adult essential workers tending to be Black or Latino.
Nearly two-thirds of the deaths were males and the deaths increased with age, noting 71 deaths were among those younger than 17, including a dozen infants, AP reported. The remaining 50 deaths were of people ages 18 to 20.