Why protecting the 'viral underclass' can keep us all healthy
FILE - A sign urges the release of the monkeypox vaccine during a protest in San Francisco, July 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Haven Daley, File) Haven Daley/AP hide caption
FILE - A sign urges the release of the monkeypox vaccine during a protest in San Francisco, July 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Haven Daley, File)
Haven Daley/APAfter years of covering HIV and AIDS, journalist Steven Thrasher knew that the hardest hit communities were almost always the poorest and most marginalized ones. Then COVID-19 struck, and he saw that the same groups of people were suffering the most.
In his new book The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide, Thrasher explores how this pattern plays out in communities around the world. Guest host Tracie Hunte talks to him about the ways that systemic oppression puts marginalized people at greater risk of infection for all diseases – and also blames them for transmission.
They also discuss the story that first inspired the book, and what viruses themselves can teach us about vulnerability, humility and collective action.
This episode was produced by Barton Girdwood. It was edited by Jessica Mendoza and Jessica Placzek. Our executive producer is Veralyn Williams. You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at IBAM@npr.org.