Excess mortality in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: A preliminary report

BACKGROUND: Post-Katrina, New Orleans' health officials continue to struggle to extrapolate current health statistics and mortality reports. Health statistics are needed now so that interventions may be implemented to eliminate health disparities and prolong the number of years of healthy life for residents of New Orleans. METHODS: Monthly totals of death notices from the Times Picayune were used to obtain frequency and proportion of deaths from January-June 2006. To validate this methodology we compared 2002-2003 monthly death frequency and proportions between death notices and top ten COD from state vital statistics. RESULTS: A significant increase in proportion of deaths (43% increase over baseline) was seen compared to the 2002-2003 baseline (p<0.0001). DISCUSSION: A significant increase in proportion of deaths in the first 6 months of 2006 supports suspicions about the enduring health consequences of a major natural disaster, prompting an urgent call for further studies and subsequent interventions. It is suggested that the excess mortality are indirect deaths resulting from a destroyed or poorly recovered public health infrastructure that would normally protect the health of the population. Problems with delayed reporting, timely analysis, and interoperability between state and local health departments may be solved by the implementation of electronic death registration.