Mortality in American Hip-Hop and Rap Recording Artists, 1987-2014.

BACKGROUND: The deaths of American hip-hop and rap recording artists often receive considerable media attention. However, these artists' deaths have not been examined as a distinct group like the deaths of rock, classical, jazz, and pop music artists. This is a seminal epidemiological analysis on the deaths of an understudied group, American hip-hop and rap music recording artists. METHODS: Media reports were analyzed of the deaths of American hip-hop and rap music recording artists that occurred from January 1, 1987 to December 31, 2014. The decedents' age, sex, race, cause of death, stage names, and city and state of death were recorded for analysis. RESULTS: The most commonly reported cause of death was homicide. The 280 deaths were categorized as homicide (55%), unintentional injury (13%), cardiovascular (7%), undetermined/undisclosed (7%), cancer (6%), other (5%), suicide (4%), and infectious disease (3%). The mean reported age at death was 30 yrs (range 15-75) and the median was 29 yrs; 97% were male and 92% were black. All but one of the homicides were committed with firearms. CONCLUSIONS: Homicide was the most commonly reported cause of death. Public health focus and guidance for hip-hop and rap recording artists should mirror that for African-American men and adolescent males ages 15-54 yrs, for whom the leading causes of death are homicide, unintentional injury, and heart disease. Given the preponderance of homicide deaths in this analysis, premature mortality reduction efforts should focus on violence prevention and conflict mitigation.

Deaths in international travelers arriving in the United States, July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2008.

BACKGROUND: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Quarantine Activity Reporting System (QARS), which documents reports of morbidity and mortality among travelers, was analyzed to describe the epidemiology of deaths during international travel. METHODS: We analyzed travel-related deaths reported to CDC from July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2008, in which international travelers died (1) on a U.S.-bound conveyance, or (2) within 72 hours after arriving in the United States, or (3) at any time after arriving in the United States from an illness possibly acquired during international travel. We analyzed age, sex, mode of travel (eg, by air, sea, land), date, and cause of death, and estimated rates using generalized linear models. RESULTS: We identified 213 deaths. The median age of deceased travelers was 66 years (range 1-95); 65% were male. Most deaths (62%) were associated with sea travel; of these, 111 (85%) occurred in cruise ship passengers and 20 (15%) among cargo and cruise ship crew members. Of 81 air travel-associated deaths, 77 occurred in passengers, 3 among air ambulance patients, and 1 in a stowaway. One death was associated with land travel. Deaths were categorized as cardiovascular (70%), infectious disease (12%), cancer (6%), unintentional injury (4%), intentional injury (1%), and other (7%). Of 145 cardiovascular deaths with reported ages, 62% were in persons 65 years of age and older. Nineteen (73%) of 26 persons who died from infectious diseases had chronic medical conditions. There was significant seasonal variation (lowest in July-September) in cardiovascular mortality in cruise ship passengers. CONCLUSIONS: Cardiovascular conditions were the major cause of death for both sexes. Travelers should seek pre-travel medical consultation, including guidance on preventing cardiovascular events, infections, and injuries. Persons with chronic medical conditions and the elderly should promptly seek medical care if they become ill during travel.

Reporting patterns and characteristics of tuberculosis among international travelers, United States, June 2006 to May 2008.

BACKGROUND: As part of efforts to prevent the introduction of communicable diseases into the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducts surveillance for selected diseases in international travelers. One of these diseases, tuberculosis (TB), received substantial attention in May 2007 when the CDC issued travel restrictions and a federal isolation order for a person with drug-resistant TB who traveled internationally against public health recommendations. METHODS: Reports of TB in international travelers in the CDC's Quarantine Activity Reporting System (QARS) from 1 June 2006 through 31 May 2007 (year 1) were compared with reports from 1 June 2007 through 31 May 2008 (year 2). These reports were classified using the CDC and American Thoracic Society guidelines and analyzed for epidemiologic characteristics and trends. RESULTS: Among QARS reports, 4.6% were classified as active TB disease and 1.7% as no TB disease. Active TB disease reports increased from 2.5% of QARS reports in year 1 to 6.4% in year 2 (p < .001). The proportion of active TB disease reports leading to a federal travel restriction increased from 6.8% in year 1 to 15.4% in year 2 (p = .08). CONCLUSIONS: The significant increase in reports of international travelers with TB disease likely represents more attention to and a higher index of suspicion for TB. The increased use of federal travel restrictions was associated with the development of new procedures to limit travel for public health reasons. Continued efforts are needed to decrease the number of persons with TB who travel while potentially contagious.