Volume 12, Number 4—April 2006
Research
1951 Influenza Epidemic, England and Wales, Canada, and the United States
Table 2
Comparison of influenza-related death rates in the 1951 influenza epidemic (A/H1N1) and 1957 influenza pandemic (A/H2N2), Canada, England and Wales, and United States*
Setting | Age group | P&I† excess death rate/100,000 (RR‡) | All cause excess death rate/100,000 (RR‡) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Canada (13.7 million)§ | ||||
1951 epidemic (Jan –Apr) | All ages | 18.6 (1.54) | 34.1 (1.47) | |
<65 y | 6.6 (0.90) | 14.8 (1.09) | ||
>65 y | 164 (2.41) | 329 (2.22) | ||
1957 pandemic (Sep–Dec) | All ages | 12.1 (1.00) | 23.2 (1.00) | |
<65 y | 7.3 (1.00) | 13.6 (1.00) | ||
>65 y | 68.0 (1.00) | 148 (1.00) | ||
England & Wales (43.8 million)§ | ||||
1951 epidemic (Jan –Mar) | All ages | 50.1 (1.40) | 178 (1.45) | |
1957 pandemic (Oct 1957–Mar 1958) | All ages | 35.8 (1.00) | 123 (1.00) | |
United States (154.9 million)§ | ||||
1951 epidemic (Feb–Apr) | All ages | 5.5 (0.48) | 9.0 (0.25) | |
1957 pandemic (Oct 1957–Mar 1958) | All ages | 11.5 (1.00) | 36.3 (1.00) |
*Unadjusted death rates (see Figure 3 for rates adjusted for demographics and trends in health care and socioeconomic status).
†P&I, pneumonia and influenza.
‡RR, ratio of excess death rate in 1951 to excess death rate in 1957.
§Population in 1951.