The theory of syndemics has received increasing attention in clinical medicine since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the synergistic interactions of the disease with pre-existing political, structural, social and health conditions. In simple terms, syndemics are synergistically interacting epidemics that occur in a particular context with shared drivers. When policymakers ask why some communities have higher death rates from COVID-19 compared with other communities, those working from a syndemics framework argue that multiple factors synergistically work in tandem, and populations with the highest morbidity and mortality experience the greatest impact of these interactions. In this Perspective, we use specific case examples to illustrate these concepts. We discuss the emergence of syndemics, how epidemics interact, and what scientists, clinicians and policymakers can do with this information.

由于疾病与预先存在的政治、结构、社会和健康状况的协同相互作用，自 COVID-19 大流行开始以来，综合征理论在临床医学中受到越来越多的关注。简而言之，流行病是在特定环境中发生的具有共同驱动因素的协同相互作用的流行病。当政策制定者问为什么一些社区的 COVID-19 死亡率高于其他社区时，那些从综合病框架工作的人认为，多种因素协同作用，发病率和死亡率最高的人群受到这些相互作用的影响最大。在这个观点中，我们使用具体的案例来说明这些概念。我们讨论了流行病的出现，流行病如何相互作用，以及科学家们，