Via Anchorage Daily News: H1N1 follows ethnic pattern: Swine flu (H1N1). Excerpt:
State and federal health officials wanted to know what kind of people were hospitalized with swine flu, so they studied Anchorage residents who tested positive and were admitted at four area hospitals over several weeks — 59 people.
The biggest surprise, according to state epidemiologist Dr. Joe McLaughlin: People from two ethnic groups — Alaska Natives and American Indians, and Asians and Pacific Islanders — were hospitalized at higher rates than those in any other ethnic groups.
The rate for Alaska Natives was 4 1/2 times greater than for white people, at 50 per 100,000, said McLaughlin. Asians and Pacific Islanders weren’t far behind Alaska Natives, at a rate of 41 hospitalizations per 100,000.
As expected, most people of all races who were hospitalized — 71 percent — had another medical condition that put them at higher risk of complications from the flu. The most common pre-existing health problem was asthma, which affected 17 of those admitted, said Dr. Jay Wenger, an epidemiologist with the Arctic Investigation Program of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wenger was one of the report’s authors.
Heart disease was next with 10 people, and other lung diseases were next with six people. People might have had more than one underlying condition.
Nine of the 59 people were so seriously ill they were treated in intensive care units. One of the 59 died.
