Report: Minorities more likely to be hospitalized with flu

WSBTV.com News Staff
·2 min read
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With flu season in full effect, a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found inequities in flu vaccine uptake.

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According to the CDC’s “Vital Signs” report, Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native adults in the U.S. were more likely to be hospitalized with flu, as well as less likely to have had the flu vaccine, than other ethnic groups.

From 2021 to 2022, flu vaccination coverage was 54% among white and Asian adults, 42% among Black adults, 38% among Hispanic adults, and 41% among American Indian/Alaska Native adults, the release stated.

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During the 2009 to 2022 seasons, Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native adults had a higher rate of hospitalization that white adults.

Compared to white adults, hospitalization rates were almost:

  • 80% higher among Black adults,

  • 30% higher among American Indian/Alaska Native adults, and

  • 20% higher among Hispanic adults.

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“Flu vaccines are the best way to protect against flu and its potentially serious complications,” said CDC Acting Principal Deputy Director Debra Houry, M.D., M.P.H. “Improving access to and trust in flu vaccines among people is critical to help reduce inequities.”

For the past two years, the CDC found ways to help prevent severe flu illness and hospitalization by providing fair access to everyone, including racial and ethnic minority communities. These new found ways include the Partnering for Vaccine Equity (P4VE) program and a targeted, national flu vaccination campaign.

Here are a few steps the CDC says people can take to help fight flu and increase vaccine uptake:

  • Health care providers can strongly recommend flu vaccination to patients and make appropriate vaccine recommendations. This could include using materials with images representative of those in the community, providing information that is transparent and promotes the benefits of and reasons for vaccination, addressing community-specific concerns and misinformation, such as vaccine side effects or risk, and using the predominant language spoken in the community, such as Spanish.

  • State and local governments should identify and remove barriers to vaccination and work with community organizations to increase access and convenience. Partnering with trusted messengers and promoting culturally relevant messages can build trust and confidence in vaccines and advance equity.

  • Everyone should get vaccinated against flu as soon as possible and encourage others in their community to get a flu vaccine for the best protection against flu this fall and winter.

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