Asthma deaths rose during the pandemic. Climate change may make it worse.
An estimated 25 million people in the U.S. have asthma, but in communities of color, the respiratory disease can be especially dire.
Kingston Brown, 8, woke up in his Augusta, Georgia, home last weekend complaining of a headache and gulping for air. His mother rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he vomited in the lobby.
"I don't want to die," he told her.
When his father, Michael Brown, saw Kingston, the boy was pale, but his oxygen level was steady.
"That's the thing that scared me the most. Out of all of the times that I encountered him having one of these episodes," Brown said of Kingston, who had experienced an asthma attack and was hospitalized overnight at Augusta University Health, "he's never had one this bad and mentioned death."
Kingston Brown.Michael BrownAn estimated 25 million people in the United States have asthma, but for those like Kingston, who is Black, their condition can be dire. Health data collected in recent years has indicated a growing imbalance along racial lines: Black people and Native Americans are diagnosed with asthma at higher rates; emergency department visits related to asthma are five times as high for Black patients as for white patients; and Black people are about three times more likely to die from asthma than white people.
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