Cysticercosis-related deaths, California.
Cysticercosis is an increasingly important disease in the United States, but information on the occurrence of related deaths is limited. We examined data from California death certificates for the 12-year period 1989-2000. A total of 124 cysticercosis deaths were identified, representing a crude 12-year death rate of 3.9 per million population (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.2 to 4.6). Eighty-two (66%) of the case-patients were male; 42 (34%) were female. The median age at death was 34.5 years (range 7-81 years). Most patients (107, 86.3%) were foreign-born, and 90 (72.6%) had emigrated from Mexico. Seventeen (13.7%) deaths occurred in U.S.-born residents. Cysticercosis death rates were higher in Latino residents of California (13.0/106) than in other racial/ethnic groups (0.4/106), in males (5.2/106) than in females (2.7/106), and in persons >14 years of age (5.0/106). Cysticercosis is a preventable cause of premature death, particularly among young Latino persons in California and may be a more common cause of death in the United States than previously recognized.
Sorvillo
Frank J
FJ
Department of Epidemiology, UCLA School of Public Health, University of California-Los Angeles, Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. fsorvill@ucla.edu
Portigal
Lawrence
L
DeGiorgio
Christopher
C
Smith
Lisa
L
Waterman
Stephen H
SH
Berlin
George W
GW
Ash
Lawrence R
LR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003551:Cysticercosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality*; D003644:Death Certificates; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology