Imperial College London
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Dr Juliette Unwin

Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health

Academic Visitor
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 3946h.unwin

 
 
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Location

 

UG1247 Praed StreetSt Mary's Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Hillis:2021:10.1542/peds.2021-053760,
author = {Hillis, S and Blenkinsop, A and Villaveces, A and Annor, F and Liburd, L and Massetti, G and Demissie, Z and Mercy, J and Nelson, C and Cluver, L and Flaxman, S and Sherr, L and Donnelly, C and Ratmann, O and Unwin, J},
doi = {10.1542/peds.2021-053760},
journal = {Pediatrics},
pages = {1--13},
title = {COVID-19-associated orphanhood and caregiver death in the United States},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-053760},
volume = {148},
year = {2021}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Background: Most COVID-19 deaths occur among adults, not children, and attention has focused on mitigating COVID-19 burden among adults.  However, a tragic consequence of adult deaths is that high numbers of children might lose their parents and caregivers to COVID-19-associated deaths.Methods: We quantified COVID-19-associated caregiver loss and orphanhood in the US and for each state using fertility and excess and COVID-19 mortality data. We assessed burden and rates of COVID-19-associated orphanhood and deaths of custodial and co-residing grandparents, overall and by race/ethnicity. We further examined variations in COVID-19-associated orphanhood by race/ethnicity for each state. Results: We found that from April 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, over 140,000 children in the US experienced the death of a parent or grandparent caregiver.  The risk of such loss was 1.1 to 4.5 times higher among children of racial and ethnic minorities, compared to Non-Hispanic White children. The highest burden of COVID-19-associated death of parents and caregivers occurred in Southern border states for Hispanic children, Southeastern states for Black children, and in states with tribal areas for American Indian/Alaska Native populations.Conclusions: We found substantial disparities in distributions of COVID-19-associated death of parents and caregivers across racial and ethnic groups.  Children losing caregivers to COVID-19 need care and safe, stable, and nurturing families with economic support, quality childcare and evidence-based parenting support programs. There is an urgent need to mount an evidence-based comprehensive response focused on those children at greatest risk, in the states most affected.
AU  - Hillis,S
AU  - Blenkinsop,A
AU  - Villaveces,A
AU  - Annor,F
AU  - Liburd,L
AU  - Massetti,G
AU  - Demissie,Z
AU  - Mercy,J
AU  - Nelson,C
AU  - Cluver,L
AU  - Flaxman,S
AU  - Sherr,L
AU  - Donnelly,C
AU  - Ratmann,O
AU  - Unwin,J
DO  - 10.1542/peds.2021-053760
EP  - 13
PY  - 2021///
SN  - 0031-4005
SP  - 1
TI  - COVID-19-associated orphanhood and caregiver death in the United States
T2  - Pediatrics
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-053760
UR  - https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/148/6/e2021053760/183446/COVID-19-Associated-Orphanhood-and-Caregiver-Death
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/93243
VL  - 148
ER  -
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