A New Study Shows There Are Racial Disparities In Flu Hospitalizations

The CDC said hospitalization rates among Hispanic adults were about two times more than White adults in the 2009 and 2021 flu seasons.

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows racial and ethnic disparities in flu hospitalizations among Black, American Indian and Alaska Native and Hispanic adults compared with White adults during the past 13 flu seasons. The CDC’s analyzed flu season hospitalizations from 2009/10 to 2021/22.  

Black adults were hospitalized at rates one and a half to nearly two and a half times higher than White adults.  

In the 2011 and 2021 seasons, hospitalization rates for American Indian and Alaska Native adult patients were nearly three times more than White adults.