Covid-19, rasni kapitalizem in neprijavljeni kmetijski delavci iz Bangladeša v Manoladi v Grčiji

This article uses the example of undocumented Bangladeshi migrants in the strawberry sector of Greece to highlight how racial capitalism heightens the health vulnerabilities of racialized low-class migrant workers and exposes them to a greater risk of COVID-19 transmission. Race-based devaluation of workers intersects with migrant illegality and culturally-specific masculine norms to normalize a discourse of healthcare “undeservingness” for undocumented racialized migrants. Unfree labor is legislated through restrictive migrant labor laws and selective detention and deportation of “illegal” migrants. Structural and systemic discriminations increase health precarities for undocumented agricultural workers.Članek na primeru neprijavljenih delavcev iz Bangladeša, ki so v Grčiji zaposleni kot obiralci jagod, prikazuje, kako rasni kapitalizem prispeva k zdravstveni ranljivosti delavcev drugih ras iz nižjih družbenih slojev in jih izpostavlja večjemu tveganju za okužbo s covidom-19. Podcenjevanje delavcev na podlagi rase sovpada z ilegalnim statusom migrantov in s kulturno specifičnimi normami moškosti, ki normalizirajo diskurz zdravstvene »nezasluženosti« neprijavljenih migrantov. Nesvobodno delo je zakonsko utemeljeno z restriktivno delovno zakonodajo za migrante in s selektivnim zapiranjem oziroma deportacijo »ilegalnih« migrantov. K zdravstveni ogroženosti neprijavljenih delavcev v kmetijstvu prispevata predvsem strukturna in sistemska diskriminacija

Meo Muslim, Mev, Mewati Muslim

The Meo, also called Mev or Mewati Muslim, self-identify as a distinct socio-cultural ethnic community, and, despite their Muslim religion, trace their lineage to the Hindu Rajputs in North India. It is also contended that the Meo converted to Islam after leaving other Hindu caste groups and a tribe, Meena, with whom they shared several similarities or that they were a nomadic Islamic tribe called the Mids, or Meds, who migrated from Western India into the region now known as Mewat, between the ninth and eleventh centuries. Today, perceived as converts from Hinduism, the Meo, numbering around 20 lakh, are considered low caste, or Neech zat, by the Indian Muslims. The Meo men and women are disfavoured for marriage by the Indian Muslims because of their suspect religious identity and their low caste status within the Muslim hierarchy. Till recently, they have considered themselves both as a caste group and a distinct religious faith within Islam because of this dual identity. During the colonial period, they were considered a distinct caste by both Hindus and Muslims. Their customs, traditions, life cycle ceremonies and modes of prayer, till the 1990s, closely replicated the Hindus with nominal adherence to Islamic practices like circumcision, nikah or marriage ceremony, and the burial. Though lauded for their syncretic culture and religious practises that adopted and adapted traditions from both religions without succumbing to the hard-core religiosity of either, they historically faced rejection from both the faiths because of their identification as neither a ‘true’ Muslim nor Hindu. Historically, the Meo inhabited a geographically contiguous space called Mewat or the ‘land of the Meo’, understood more as a cultural space than an administrative unit. In present-day India, it is administratively divided up between the districts of Nuh (formerly Mewat), Palwal, and Faridabad in southern Haryana and Alwar and Bharatpur and Dholpur districts in Rajasthan. A small portion of historical Mewat also lies in western Uttar Pradesh; however, it is in Nuh, Haryana that they comprise an overwhelming majority.Non UBCUnreviewedFacult

Association between administration of IL-6 antagonists and mortality among patients hospitalized for COVID-19 : a meta-analysis

IMPORTANCE Clinical trials assessing the efficacy of IL-6 antagonists in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 have variously reported benefit, no effect, and harm. OBJECTIVE To estimate the association between administration of IL-6 antagonists compared with usual care or placebo and 28-day all-cause mortality and other outcomes. DATA SOURCES Trials were identified through systematic searches of electronic databases between October 2020 and January 2021. Searches were not restricted by trial status or language. Additional trials were identified through contact with experts. STUDY SELECTION Eligible trials randomly assigned patients hospitalized for COVID-19 to a group in whom IL-6 antagonists were administered and to a group in whom neither IL-6 antagonists nor any other immunomodulators except corticosteroids were administered. Among 72 potentially eligible trials, 27 (37.5%) met study selection criteria. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS In this prospectivemeta-analysis, risk of biaswas assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool. Inconsistency among trial results was assessed using the I-2 statistic. The primary analysis was an inverse variance-weighted fixed-effects meta-analysis of odds ratios (ORs) for 28-day all-cause mortality. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome measurewas all-cause mortality at 28 days after randomization. There were 9 secondary outcomes including progression to invasive mechanical ventilation or death and risk of secondary infection by 28 days. RESULTS A total of 10 930 patients (median age, 61 years [range of medians, 52-68 years]; 3560 [33%] were women) participating in 27 trials were included. By 28 days, there were 1407 deaths among 6449 patients randomized to IL-6 antagonists and 1158 deaths among 4481 patients randomized to usual care or placebo (summary OR, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.79-0.95]; P =.003 based on a fixed-effects meta-analysis). This corresponds to an absolute mortality risk of 22% for IL-6 antagonists compared with an assumed mortality risk of 25% for usual care or placebo. The corresponding summary ORs were 0.83 (95% CI, 0.74-0.92; P <.001) for tocilizumab and 1.08 (95% CI, 0.86-1.36; P =.52) for sarilumab. The summary ORs for the association with mortality compared with usual care or placebo in those receiving corticosteroids were 0.77 (95% CI, 0.68-0.87) for tocilizumab and 0.92 (95% CI, 0.61-1.38) for sarilumab. The ORs for the association with progression to invasive mechanical ventilation or death, compared with usual care or placebo, were 0.77 (95% CI, 0.70-0.85) for all IL-6 antagonists, 0.74 (95% CI, 0.66-0.82) for tocilizumab, and 1.00 (95% CI, 0.74-1.34) for sarilumab. Secondary infections by 28 days occurred in 21.9% of patients treated with IL-6 antagonists vs 17.6% of patients treated with usual care or placebo (OR accounting for trial sample sizes, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.85-1.16). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this prospectivemeta-analysis of clinical trials of patients hospitalized for COVID-19, administration of IL-6 antagonists, compared with usual care or placebo, was associated with lower 28-day all-cause mortality