As Chicagoans gear up for the flu season and another battle with the H1N1 virus, the city's first outbreak this past spring shows that some parts of the city could be more vulnerable than others.
There were 1,557 laboratory-confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus in Chicago from April to July, according to an August report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Chicago Department of Public Health reported the city's first cases of H1N1, often referred to as the swine flu, on April 28. Within a week, Rogers Park in the northeastern corner of the city and Hedgewisch in the city's southeastern corner reported the highest rates of infection--at least 30 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the CDC report. The infections spread fast, the report's authors noted. "By May 23, the fifth week of the outbreak, cases had been reported in 68 of Chicago's 77 community areas." The report included the graphic below. The darkest areas reflect the highest rates of infection based on laboratory-confirmed cases per 100,000 residents.
As the graphic shows, H1N1 hit hardest in three general parts of the city, the far North Side, the Southeast Side and in the central part of the city stretching from the Near South Side along the lake to the North Lawndale community on the West Side.
Filed under: Health
Tags: CDC, Chicago, flu, h1n1, Hedgewisch, outbreak, pandemic, Rogers Park, swine flu
I live in the western suburbs, and SO many kids from my school are sick with the swine flu. Bleh. I hope I don't get it.