TABLE 1 .
Case fatality rates stratified by race during yellow fever epidemics in the United States (1808 to 1878)a
| Yellow fever epidemic by location and year | No. of deaths/100 YF cases in Caucasians (no. of cases in Caucasians) | No. of deaths/100 YF cases in non-Caucasians (no. of cases in non-Caucasians) | Fold change in case fatality rate(C/nC)b | Odds (95% confidence interval) of Caucasians versus non-Caucasians succumbing to YF | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Mary’s, GA (1808) | 48.3 (87) | 6.7 (45) | 7.24*** | 13.07 (4.33−56.78) | 28 |
| Norfolk, VA (1855) | 46.2 (143) | 6.0 (50) | 7.69*** | 13.43 (4.64−57.05) | 29 |
| Portsmouth, VA (1855) | 42.0 (2,264) | 5.0 (1,980) | 8.40*** | 13.76 (11.11−17.22) | 26 |
| U.S. troops in New Orleans, LA (1867) | 29.6 (659) | 14.1 (163) | 2.10*** | 2.56 (1.63−4.19) | 15 |
| Port Royal and Sea Islands, SC (1877) | 25.0 (96) | 1.1 (87) | 21.75** | 28.67 (5.84−518.70) | 31 |
| Memphis, TN (1878) | 72.5 (5,800) | 8.6 (11,000) | 7.44*** | 20.53 (18.87−22.34) | 30 |
| All epidemics | 58.6 (9,049) | 8.4 (13,325) | 6.80*** | 14.63 (13.59−15.76) |
a
Data from references 15 and 26 to 31. The data for all six epidemics are lumped together and shown in boldface type.
b
The case fatality rate in Caucasians (C) to the case fatality rate in non-Caucasians (nC) is shown. Race was found to be a significant predictor of outcome in the logistic regression model as follows: **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001.