| Summary: | Objectives. We described death rates and leading causes of death caused by infectious diseases (IDs) in American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons. Methods. We analyzed national mortality data, adjusted for AI/AN race by linkage with Indian Health Service registration records, for all US counties and Contract Health Service Delivery Area (CHSDA) counties. The average annual 1999 to 2009 ID death rates per 100 000 persons for AI/AN persons were compared with corresponding rates for Whites. Results. The ID death rate in AI/AN populations was significantly higher than that of Whites. A reported 8429 ID deaths (rate 86.2) in CHSDA counties occurred among AI/AN persons; the rate was significantly higher than the rate in Whites (44.0; rate ratio [RR] = 1.96; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.91, 2.00). The rates for the top 10 ID underlying causes of death were significantly higher for AI/AN persons than those for Whites. Lower respiratory tract infection and septicemia were the top-ranked causes. The greatest relative rate disparity was for tuberculosis (RR = 13.51; 95% CI = 11.36, 15.93). Conclusions. Health equity might be furthered by expansion of interventions to reduce IDs among AI/AN communities. adult; aged; American Indian; article; Caucasian; cause of death; communicable disease; comparative study; death certificate; ethnology; female; health survey; human; Inuit; male; middle aged; mortality; register; statistics; United States; very elderly, Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alaska; Cause of Death; Communicable Diseases; Death Certificates; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Humans; Indians, North American; Inuits; Male; Middle Aged; Population Surveillance; Registries; United States
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