Child mortality after Hurricane Katrina.
BACKGROUND
Age-specific pediatric health consequences of community disruption after Hurricane Katrina have not been analyzed. Post-Katrina vital statistics are unavailable. The objectives of this study were to validate an alternative method to estimate child mortality rates in the greater New Orleans area and compare pre-Katrina and post-Katrina mortality rates.


METHODS
Pre-Katrina 2004 child mortality was estimated from death reports in the local daily newspaper and validated by comparison with pre-Katrina data from the Louisiana Department of Health. Post-Katrina child mortality rates were analyzed as a measure of health consequences.


RESULTS
Newspaper-derived estimates of mortality rates appear to be valid except for possible underreporting of neonatal rates. Pre-Katrina and post-Katrina mortality rates were similar for all age groups except infants. Post-Katrina, a 92% decline in mortality rate occurred for neonates (<28 days), and a 57% decline in mortality rate occurred for postneonatal infants (28 days-1 year). The post-Katrina decline in infant mortality rate exceeds the pre-Katrina discrepancy between newspaper-derived and Department of Health-reported rates.


CONCLUSIONS
A declining infant mortality rate raises questions about persistent displacement of high-risk infants out of the region. Otherwise, there is no evidence of long-lasting post-Katrina excess child mortality. Further investigation of demographic changes would be of interest to local decision makers and planners for recovery after public health emergencies in other regions.
Kanter
Robert K
RK
Department of Pediatrics, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA. kanterr@upstate.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D046688:Child Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D055867:Cyclonic Storms / Q000401:mortality*; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D055820:New Orleans; D009524:Newspapers as Topic; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*