Racial and ethnic disparities in influenza and pneumococcal immunization rates among Medicare beneficiaries.

Abstract

Influenza (commonly called flu) and pneumonia are both vaccine-preventable diseases. Yet together they represented the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2003.1 Influenza epidemics are responsible for approximately 36,000 deaths and more than 200,000 hospitalizations each year in the U.S. More than 90 percent of these deaths occur among those age 65 and older.