A disproportionate incidence of death has occurred in African Americans (Blacks) in the United States due to COVID-19. The reason for this disparity is likely to be multi-factorial and may involve genetic predisposition. The association of human leukocyte antigens (HLA) with severe COVID-19 was examined in a hospitalized population (89% Black, n = 36) and compared to HLA typed non-hospitalized individuals (20% Black, n = 40) who had recovered from mild disease. For additional comparison, HLA typing data was available from kidney transplant recipients and deceased donors. Hospitalized patients were followed for 45 days after admission to our medical center with death as the primary end-point. One HLA allele, B53, appeared to be more prevalent in the hospitalized COVID-19 patients (percent of positive subjects, 30.5) compared to national data in US Black populations (percent of positive subjects, 24.5). The percent B53 positive in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients was 2.6, significantly less than the percent positive in the hospitalized COVID-19 patients (p = 0.001, Fisher’s exact test) and less than the 8 percent positive listed in national data bases for US Caucasian populations. Significantly greater deaths (73 percent) were observed in HLA B53 positive hospitalized COVID-19 patients compared to hospitalized COVID-19 patients who were B53 negative (40 percent). Multi-variate analysis indicated that HLA B53 positive Black hospitalized COVID-19 patients were at a 7.4 fold greater risk of death than Black COVID-19 patients who were B53 negative. Consideration for accelerated vaccination and treatment should be given to HLA B53 positive Black COVID19 patients.

由于 COVID-19，美国的非裔美国人（黑人）的死亡发生率不成比例。这种差异的原因可能是多因素的，可能涉及遗传倾向。在住院人群（89% 黑人，n = 36）中检查了人类白细胞抗原 (HLA) 与严重 COVID-19 的关联，并与已康复的 HLA 型非住院个体（20% 黑人，n = 40）进行了比较从轻微的疾病。为了进一步比较，可以从肾移植受者和已故捐献者那里获得 HLA 分型数据。住院患者在进入我们的医疗中心后进行了 45 天的随访，以死亡为主要终点。一种 HLA 等位基因 B53 在住院的 COVID-19 患者中似乎更为普遍（阳性受试者的百分比为 30. 5) 与美国黑人人口的全国数据相比（阳性受试者的百分比，24.5）。非住院 COVID-19 患者的 B53 阳性百分比为 2.6，显着低于住院 COVID-19 患者的阳性百分比（p = 0.001，Fisher 精确检验），并且低于国家数据库中列出的 8%美国高加索人口。与 B53 阴性的住院 COVID-19 患者（40%）相比，HLA B53 阳性的住院 COVID-19 患者的死亡人数（73%）明显更高。多变量分析表明，HLA B53 阳性黑人 COVID-19 住院患者的死亡风险是 B53 阴性黑人 COVID-19 患者的 7.4 倍。