1 Final Project - Milestone Two Danielle Doucette Southern New Hampshire University IHP- 330 - Principles of Epidemiology Prof. Monica Vargas February 11th, 2024
2 Population Summary In December of 2019, the national authorities in China reported many cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause to the World Health Organization (WHO). A couple weeks later they determined that the cases were associated with exposures in a seafood and animal market in Wuhan City. On January 7th, 2020 the Chinese authorities identified the cause of the pneumonia was a novel coronavirus (COVID-19). China made efforts to control the disease's spread, but more cases of the disease were reported in other countries. This was not a huge surprise as there is a large amount of travel between Wuhan and other countries. On January 30th, 2020 WHO declared the outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern. In a small study conducted at the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital they determined that the average age of the individuals contracting COVID-19 was 55.5 and roughly two thirds of them were men (Bashier et al., 2020). Social and Behavioral Determinants As of 2020, China was the country with the highest population and several densely populated cities. They have widespread air pollution issues and millions of cigarette smokers which contributes to respiratory illnesses. In the small study conducted in the Wuhan Hospital, they identified that half of the people were exposed at the animal market. An animal source was most likely the primary source of the outbreak, but there was evidence of human to human transmission and with China having the busiest airports and railway systems in the world, the large population combined with heavy travel made for rapid transmission of the disease. It should also be noted that China has poor water supply and sanitation infrastructure. They also face challenges with water scarcity, contamination and pollution (Bashier et al., 2020).
3 Disparities As of January 2020, roughly two thirds of the people who had contracted COVID-19 in Wuhan were men and the average age was 55.5 years old. Also, as previously mentioned, China has environmental threats such as air and water pollution which puts individuals at an increased risk for respiratory illness. Another disparity is the inadequate access to health care. At the time of the outbreak, Wuhan had only two infectious disease hospitals with 900 beds each. "Before the COVID-19 outbreak, China and Wuhan's medical resources were barely sufficient to cover normal demand" (Yin et al., 2021). Later it was discovered in the UK that "almost all minority ethnic groups had higher risks of dying from COVID-19" (Platt & Warwick, 2021). Infection rates are higher in black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) and even more so in rural communities and part of the reason for that is because most of the health conditions that increase the risk for COVID-19 complications are those that are seen more often in black communities (Andraska et al., 2021). It is also more likely that minorities and low-income