bobbyw24
10-31-2009, 06:52 AM
* By Jeremy Cox
The swine flu pandemic has offered scientists plenty to be puzzled about.
But seven months after the virus first popped up in Mexico and quickly raced around the globe, one of the most troubling questions remains largely unanswered: Are blacks and Hispanics at greater odds of being hospitalized or dying of the disease than other racial groups?
That line of questioning was triggered in August when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study of the initial wave of outbreaks in Chicago. Among the observations was blacks and Hispanics were four times more likely to be hospitalized than whites.
The CDC quickly shot down genetics and differences in age distribution among the races as possible causes. Instead, scientists speculated that higher rates of underlying conditions, such as asthma and diabetes, among blacks and Hispanics might have been an important factor in their illnesses.
Mystery solved? Not quite.
The study involved 1,557 confirmed swine flu cases from late April through late July in one city. Experts note that the dire-sounding statistics for blacks and Hispanics may have been driven by the disease hitting certain neighborhoods first rather than others — and have nothing to do with race.
In Boston, though, the new flu virus has taken a disturbingly similar path. As of mid-August, blacks and Hispanics represented three out of four swine flu hospitalizations, double each minority group’s presence in the city, the Boston Globe reported.
Such reports have led one organization to declare that the virus, technically known as H1N1, has had a “disproportionate effect” on minority groups. In a report this month detailing the challenges that swine flu poses to public health officials, the Washington, D.C.,-based Trust for America’s Health called on authorities to reach out to minorities, among others, to get vaccinated.
“Across lower socioeconomic groups, there are barriers” to getting shots, said Richard Hamburg, a government relations representative for the group.
Some of the issues include the costs associated with administering the vaccine, poor access to medical services and cultural factors that create an “underestimation of personal risk,” Hamburg added.
It is unclear whether Florida’s minority groups are being hit harder by the swine flu. A Florida Department of Health spokeswoman refused to release data for this report related to the race or ethnicity of people who went to the hospital or died because of the swine flu. A state law allows officials to release only the information they consider to be “necessary to public health.”
To date, the swine flu has sent more than 900 Floridians to the hospital and caused more than 130 deaths.
If the virus is attacking some races more than others, Mobeen Rathore hasn’t noticed it. He heads the immunology department of Shands Jacksonville.
“I cannot tell you that there is a specific predilection [by the swine flu] for the minority population, but that everyone should be cautious no matter the population,” he said.
The Clay County Health Department is taking steps — writing bus ads in English and Spanish, providing public information and vaccines at a free clinic in Green Cove Springs — aimed at ensuring minority groups are as protected as possible. Still, the department’s administrator said, the efforts aren’t necessarily targeted toward one group but rather part of a campaign to reach all of the county’s residents.
“The disease doesn’t differentiate and neither do we,” Nancy Mills said.
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-10-30/story/cdc_rejects_race_as_swine_flu_factor
The swine flu pandemic has offered scientists plenty to be puzzled about.
But seven months after the virus first popped up in Mexico and quickly raced around the globe, one of the most troubling questions remains largely unanswered: Are blacks and Hispanics at greater odds of being hospitalized or dying of the disease than other racial groups?
That line of questioning was triggered in August when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study of the initial wave of outbreaks in Chicago. Among the observations was blacks and Hispanics were four times more likely to be hospitalized than whites.
The CDC quickly shot down genetics and differences in age distribution among the races as possible causes. Instead, scientists speculated that higher rates of underlying conditions, such as asthma and diabetes, among blacks and Hispanics might have been an important factor in their illnesses.
Mystery solved? Not quite.
The study involved 1,557 confirmed swine flu cases from late April through late July in one city. Experts note that the dire-sounding statistics for blacks and Hispanics may have been driven by the disease hitting certain neighborhoods first rather than others — and have nothing to do with race.
In Boston, though, the new flu virus has taken a disturbingly similar path. As of mid-August, blacks and Hispanics represented three out of four swine flu hospitalizations, double each minority group’s presence in the city, the Boston Globe reported.
Such reports have led one organization to declare that the virus, technically known as H1N1, has had a “disproportionate effect” on minority groups. In a report this month detailing the challenges that swine flu poses to public health officials, the Washington, D.C.,-based Trust for America’s Health called on authorities to reach out to minorities, among others, to get vaccinated.
“Across lower socioeconomic groups, there are barriers” to getting shots, said Richard Hamburg, a government relations representative for the group.
Some of the issues include the costs associated with administering the vaccine, poor access to medical services and cultural factors that create an “underestimation of personal risk,” Hamburg added.
It is unclear whether Florida’s minority groups are being hit harder by the swine flu. A Florida Department of Health spokeswoman refused to release data for this report related to the race or ethnicity of people who went to the hospital or died because of the swine flu. A state law allows officials to release only the information they consider to be “necessary to public health.”
To date, the swine flu has sent more than 900 Floridians to the hospital and caused more than 130 deaths.
If the virus is attacking some races more than others, Mobeen Rathore hasn’t noticed it. He heads the immunology department of Shands Jacksonville.
“I cannot tell you that there is a specific predilection [by the swine flu] for the minority population, but that everyone should be cautious no matter the population,” he said.
The Clay County Health Department is taking steps — writing bus ads in English and Spanish, providing public information and vaccines at a free clinic in Green Cove Springs — aimed at ensuring minority groups are as protected as possible. Still, the department’s administrator said, the efforts aren’t necessarily targeted toward one group but rather part of a campaign to reach all of the county’s residents.
“The disease doesn’t differentiate and neither do we,” Nancy Mills said.
http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-10-30/story/cdc_rejects_race_as_swine_flu_factor