Trend part of wider drop in violent crime in the country

CHICAGO - A respiratory illness that strikes the elderly knocked homicide off the list of the top killers in the United States for the first time in 45 years in 2010, according to a new report.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its annual report on US mortality, that pneumonitis had replaced murder as one of the leading causes of death in the country.

Last month, the FBI released a preliminary report on US crime rates for 2010 that showed a 7.1 percent drop in murder between January and June, part of a wider drop in violent crime despite the country's ongoing economic troubles.

The drop in murder rates, and a corresponding rise in pneumonitis, forced homicide off the list.

Murder was relegated to 16th place in 2010 with 16,065 killings.

Average life expectancy in the United States rose slightly in 2010, to 78.7 years from 78.6 in 2009, the CDC said.

In order to reach that age, Americans had to dodge a litany of potential killers.

Heart disease was the top killer, followed by cancer, chronic lower respiratory illnesses, cerebrovascular diseases which affect the circulation of blood to the brain and accidents.

Alzheimer's disease was sixth on the list, with diabetes, kidney disease, influenza and pneumonia and suicide rounding out the top 10 illnesses. Pneumonitis was 15th.

Age-adjusted death rates for nine of the 15 leading killers, including influenza and pneumonia, septicemia and cancer, fell in 2010, the CDC said. But age-adjusted death rates for six, including Parkinson's disease and pneumonitis, rose.

Age-adjustment accounts for the impact of rising life expectancy over time.

Infant mortality fell 3.9 percent in 2010 to 6.14 infant deaths per 1,000 births from 6.39 deaths per 1,000 births in 2009.

Reuters