Flu and Pneumonia Map Shows US States With Highest Death Rates

Mississippi, Alabama, Hawaii and Tennessee are among the states with the highest average death rates due to cases of influenza and pneumonia, according to recent historical trends in data produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Between 2017 and 2021, all four states had mortality rates due to the virus and the lung inflammation it can cause above 18 in 100,000 people—with Mississippi having an annual average of 23.36 deaths per 100,000 in the state across the five-year period. Mississippi is also the state with the highest poverty rate in America, which has been linked to higher mortality.

In contrast, just eight U.S. states had an average rate of 10 per 100,000 or less.

There is heightened concern about pneumonia caused by seasonal respiratory illnesses such as influenza amid an outbreak of pediatric pneumonia cases in one county in Ohio and a reported increase in Massachusetts. There have been eight pediatric deaths associated with influenza this season, according to the CDC, though it is unclear how many were due to pneumonia.

Average Influenza, Pneumonia Deaths Per 100K

Warren County Health District in southwestern Ohio said last week that, as of Thursday, there were 145 cases of child pneumonia in the region—though it stressed that while the number of cases was elevated, the severity of illness was similar to previous years. Those who had recovered were found to have been infected with known bacteria and adenoviruses, which can cause a cold.

It comes as there are concerns about an outbreak in cases of pneumonia among children in northern China. A lack of information shared by health officials in the country with the international community fueled fears that another novel virus was behind the trend, though Chinese officials have attributed the clusters of cases to already understood diseases and an easing of lockdown measures.

Health officials in Warren County said that there was "zero evidence of this outbreak being connected to other outbreaks, either statewide, nationally or internationally." The cases of pneumonia were not thought to be caused by a new or novel respiratory virus.

To produce the map, Newsweek took CDC data for the latest five recorded years and took an average of those annual rates for each state, meaning large year-to-year swings in mortality rates may push a state's overall average up or down.

Using deaths per 100,000 people allows for the rates to be compared state-to-state regardless of population size. However, the CDC cautions that although the data is adjusted for differences in age distribution, "rankings by state do not take into account other state specific population characteristics that may affect the level of mortality."

The figures represent recent historical trends in mortality and are not necessarily indicative of current influenza and pneumonia mortality rates. A dataset for 2022 has yet to be released.

Aside from those with mortality rates due to influenza and pneumonia higher than 18 per 100,000, West Virginia has an average rate of 17.98 per 100,000; Arkansas a rate of 17.44; and New York a rate of 17.04. Kentucky had a mortality rate of 16.44 per 100,000 over the five-year period.

Many states' average death rates sat between 10 and 15 per 100,000 people, while Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington state were the only states to have rates of 10 per 100,000 or less.