Swine flu death rate elevated for American Indians, Alaska natives - washingtonpost.com: The death rate from pandemic H1N1 influenza is four times higher in American Indians and Alaska natives than in the rest of the U.S. population, government epidemiologists reported Thursday.
An examination of flu deaths in 12 states found that Indians and Alaska natives suffered 3.7 deaths per 100,000 people, compared with 0.9 deaths per 100,000 for all other ethnic groups.
Indian and Alaska-native flu victims were slightly more likely than other Americans to have preexisting illnesses (81 percent vs. 78 percent), and were twice as likely to have asthma (31 percent vs. 14 percent) or diabetes (45 percent vs. 24 percent).
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The cause of this difference in mortality is not known. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters that the findings are more likely 'a reflection of environmental factors and underlying conditions . . . [and] access to health care rather than genetics or ethnicity.'
