title: Trends in mortality from respiratory disease in Latin America since 1998 and the impact of the 2009 influenza pandemic.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine trends in mortality from respiratory disease in several areas of Latin America between 1998 and 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  The numbers of deaths attributed to respiratory disease between 1998 and 2009 were extracted from mortality data from Argentina, southern Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Paraguay. Robust linear models were then fitted to the rates of mortality from respiratory disease recorded between 2003 and 2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Between 1998 and 2008, rates of mortality from respiratory disease gradually decreased in all age groups in most of the study areas. Among children younger than 5 years, for example, the annual rates of such mortality - across all seven study areas - fell from 56.9 deaths per 100,000 in 1998 to 26.6 deaths per 100,000 in 2008. Over this period, rates of mortality from respiratory disease were generally highest among adults older than 65 years and lowest among individuals aged 5 to 49 years. In 2009, mortality from respiratory disease was either similar to that recorded in 2008 or showed an increase - significant increases were seen among children younger than 5 years in Paraguay, among those aged 5 to 49 years in southern Brazil, Mexico and Paraguay and among adults aged 50 to 64 years in Mexico and Paraguay.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In much of Latin America, mortality from respiratory disease gradually fell between 1998 and 2008. However, this downward trend came to a halt in 2009, probably as a result of the (H1N1) 2009 pandemic.
authors.affiliation: Pan American Health Organization, 525 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20037, USA. mfmsouza@gmail.com
authors.forename: Maria de Fatima Marinho
authors.initials: Mde F
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: Marc-Alain
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Widdowson
authors.forename: Airlane P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Alencar
authors.forename: Vilma P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Gawryszewski
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aziz-Baumgartner
authors.forename: Rakhee
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Palekar
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Breese
authors.forename: Po-Yung
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Jarbas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cabrera
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olea
authors.forename: Arturo B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.forename: David K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Shay
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mounts
authors.forename: Otavio P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Oliva
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000401:mortality*; D055815:Young Adult