Hispanics Already Hard Hit
When the swine flu first appeared in the United States in March, communities with high Latino populations—including New York City, Chicago, and parts of California and Texas—were hit especially hard. Researchers think that early pattern could be a result of many Hispanics visiting family in Mexico, where the swine flu first appeared. But socioeconomic factors are also at work: recent regional studies of early flu cases in Boston and Chicago found that Hispanics and African Americans were much more likely to be hospitalized by H1N1’s effects than non-Hispanic whites. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes those Hispanics and African Americans were hospitalized more often because both groups suffer disproportionately from asthma, diabetes, and other conditions that make them more vulnerable to the flu—and even make it deadly. The CDC is reviewing hospitalizations nationwide to determine whether that is a national trend.

The H1N1 virus subsided during the summer but never disappeared. Now the federal government is braced for a second wave of the illness, which could infect up to half the U.S. population—with 20 to 40 percent displaying symptoms—and hospitalize as many as 1.8 million Americans, according to a report by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The latest cases of H1N1 are also showing up primarily in areas with large Latino populations, including Arizona and Florida. If Hispanics do contract the virus, Rios says, they are often less able to access the needed medical care because they don’t have insurance or can’t afford treatment.

Who’s on the Vaccine Priority List? The Centers for Disease Control recommends the following groups receive the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it is available: • All people six months to 24 years old. • People 25 to 64 years old with underlying health conditions that could put them at higher risk for complications from the flu. •  People who live with or care for infants under six months old. • Pregnant women • Health care and emergency medical services personnel. Source: CDC’s www.flu.gov

Awareness Efforts Outlined
To help raise awareness about the swine flu—considered a pandemic because it has circled the globe—the U.S. government has established a new website, www.flu.gov, in Spanish, English, and other languages. Government officials also met with Hispanic organizations and asked for their help in spreading information on prevention and care.

Liany Arroyo, director of the National Council of La Raza’s Institute of Hispanic Health, considers government outreach efforts a step in the right direction. “We are hopeful that these efforts, along with those of local community groups, are going to be enough,” she says. Meanwhile, NCLR has created a swine flu taskforce to monitor the outbreak in the Latino community and take additional action if needed.

The Obama administration is making arrangements to provide the vaccine to low-income Americans and give them advice on how to avoid the flu and care for themselves if they contract it. People should be able to receive H1N1 vaccinations in many of the same places they would normally get the seasonal flu vaccine, says CDC spokeswoman Artealia Gilliard. “Also, many state and local health departments may conduct low-cost or free vaccination clinics.”

In addition, federal officials are urging state and local health departments and community- and faith-based organizations to identify populations at risk in their communities, translate information into languages spoken in those communities, and provide transportation to vaccination centers for those in need.

Tony Fiore, of the CDC’s Influenza Division, says all of us share the responsibility to prevent the spread of the illness. “Vaccination of people who have access to care could blunt the flu’s impact on medically underserved populations,” says Fiore. “But longstanding issues of health care access are not likely to be fixed during a pandemic.”