CNN: A deadly virus is spreading from state to state and has infected 19 million Americans so far. It's influenza
(CNN)The novel coronavirus that's sickening thousands globally -- and at least six people in the US -- is inspiring countries to close their borders and Americans to buy up surgical masks quicker than major retailers can restock them.
There's another virus that has infected 19 million Americans across the country and killed at least 10,000 people this season alone. It's not a new pandemic -- it's influenza.
The 2019-2020 flu season is projected to be one of the worst in a decade, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. At least 180,000 people have been hospitalized with complications from the flu, and that number is predicted to climb as flu activity swirls.
The flu is a constant in Americans' lives. It's that familiarity that makes it more dangerous to underestimate, said Dr. Margot Savoy, chair of Family and Community Medicine at Temple University's Lewis Katz School of Medicine.
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Update: The flu has already killed 10,000 across US as world frets over coronavirus (CNBC)
WNU Editor: Putting everything in perspective.
7 comments:
why is it that when we need decent analysis etc we note the use of CNN and NY Times but for abstract issues about political preferences, those two leading media giants are badmouthed. If they are not to be trusted, liars, etc., then why are they so often used at this site?
It does put it in perspective.
However, I cannot trust, in any way, the figures coming out of China for total infected and deaths.
Once we have reliable stats from elsewhere, I might then start to relax...
The cases and deaths in china are probably at least 10 times what they reporting. In one month. Flu here has been going on for a year.
more perspective
I saw the CNN graph. It was interesting, but I was irritated.
I should say I was pissed. IMO journalism grads should be the first to be made into Soylent Green. For a graph I am looking for at least 25 or 30 periods.
Reporting in the 70 and 80s might not have been great. Still I note that flue was big news in the early 1970s.
So I went to the CDC site where CNN stole their graph. Consider that many urinalists go into journalism to change the world. They cannot politely pressure someone like the CDC to provide better graphs, because they are too fucking ignorant of statistics and other fields.
What I wanted is some graph going back to 1990 or longer. I also wanted a graph normalized (or an additional graph) for population size that gave rates. That is it take into account that the US population has grown 50% in population since the 70s or 80s. It wold also help to have a graph that gave flu by age cohort, by underlying conditions, or other demographic factors.
All Is see are raw numbers which can be used to make erroneous arguments.
WNU Editor, the issue is the morbidity rate (and the infection rate if not contained). Based on information reported by the PRC, the morbidity rate appears to be relatively low (2%) when compared to SARS (9.8%), but 2% is still five times more lethal than the common flu (0.4%), AND the morbidity rate of 2% is being calculated amid reports that some deaths are simply being recorded as death by pneumonia -- rather than pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus -- due to a lack of testing kits.
Some deaths due pneumonia brought on by the corona virus are not being recorded as that, but simply as pneumonia. True.
It also true that many people are infected with corona virus and have nothing more than a headache or what appears to be a short term cold.
So I do not think that the corona virus is any worse than the flu.
I have seen charts where they believe that flu related deaths are low balled in the states for decades.
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.seekingalpha.com%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F1%2F2381951_13594688096664_rId10.png&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fseekingalpha.com%2Farticle%2F1145851-flu-season-highlights-demand-for-comprehensive-vaccines&tbnid=EO41p0j7cpgeKM&vet=10CGwQMyiWAWoXChMIgMaxr6W25wIVAAAAAB0AAAAAEAI..i&docid=SocNtZcj4skz2M&w=382&h=288&q=flu%20deaths%20recorded%20not%20recorded%20graphs&client=opera&ved=0CGwQMyiWAWoXChMIgMaxr6W25wIVAAAAAB0AAAAAEAI
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html
If what we see/hear out of china via unofficial non governmental sources is correct than undeniably we're looking at high mortality rates which are being suppressed to maintain civil order as long as possible.
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