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Tuesday, June 26, 2007Kevin U. Stephens Sr., MD, JD, Director of the New Orleans Health Department, and colleagues used monthly totals from the New Orleans Times-Picayune to obtain the frequency and proportion of deaths from January to June 2006. They compared these figures with deaths notices from 2002 to 2003. They also compared death notice figures with data from the state Health Statistics Center on the top ten causes of death in the greater New Orleans area from 2002 to 2003. "The post-Katrina mortality rate for the first six months of 2006 was approximately 91.37 deaths per 100,000 population. Compared to the pre-Katrina population mortality rate of 62.17 deaths per 100,000 population, this represents an average 47 percent increase from the baseline mortality, suggesting a marked increase in indirect (excess) deaths post-disaster, the authors report. It shouldn't be too surprising that mortality is higher in the aftermath of such an extensive disaster. On top of the loss of infrastructure and people, those left behind are more likely to be the sicker and older - people who would have more difficulty picking up and moving to a new place after the deluge. The press notice goes on to argue that this is a reason for electronic record system, but it seems that electronic records, but wouldn't electronic records be even more vulnerable to a disaster? posted by Sydney on 6/26/2007 08:15:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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