Swine flu is hitting First Nations in Manitoba harder

Since WHO has called the pandemic "moderate" (so far) experts are increasingly looking at how this pandemic will affect vulnerable populations. From previous pandemics we know that some demographics are hit harder by pandemics and we don't always know why.

Currently, Canada is monitoring the situation in Manitoba where First Nations people seem to be more severely affected, though the numbers are small so it's hard to draw hard conclusions.

"It appears from our information that . . . (among) our most severe cases, there's an over-representation from a population and demographic perspective, of First Nations and aboriginal people," Kettner, the chief medical officer of health, said Monday in an interview from Winnipeg... two-thirds of 24 Manitobans in intensive care units fighting swine flu last week were First Nations people. Given that aboriginal peoples make up only 10 to 15 per cent of the population of the province, that seems an unduly large proportion"

http://www.pddnet.com/news-ap-hl-swine-flu-is-hitting-first-nations-in-manitoba--061509/