Social health inequalities in vaccine-preventable viral respiratory emerging infectious diseases : the case of the COVID-19 pandemic
(2025)
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- Abstract
- A clear social gradient in COVID-19 outcomes has been identified worldwide, highlighting its syndemic nature shaped by the interplay between the virus and preexisting health and social conditions. In Belgium, important knowledge gaps persisted regarding the extent and drivers of social inequalities in COVID-19 outcomes, as well as the long-term health impacts of the disease. This thesis addresses these gaps using individual-level data from health and social registries, combined with innovative causal inference and machine learning techniques. The findings reveal significant social inequalities in vaccination coverage, mortality, and morbidity, with the latter partly driven by unequal vaccine uptake and comorbidity burden. Significant post-acute organ damage following severe infection was also identified. These results underscore the need to systematically integrate social equity into pandemic preparedness and response, and to implement long-term monitoring following severe COVID-19.
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Citations
Cavillot, L. (2025). Social health inequalities in vaccine-preventable viral respiratory emerging infectious diseases : the case of the COVID-19 pandemic. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/256651