36,171 flu-related deaths occur EACH year, on average

[iamthebandfanman]

in the united states.


stop freaking out.

[Trajan]

1. Yes Sir ....

I mean ..... Yes Ma'am ...

I mean ....

WTF does it matter to you ?

Is your favorite news channel talking about it instead of Tot Mom ?

Well that's a damn shame, and I would care, if I watched that shiat ....


But you have one thing going for ya with that strong statement: EVERYBODY is going to listen to you, and stop immediately ....

I mean ..... nevermind ....

[aquart]

2. Sigh. Let's explain this all over again.

Why are the world governments freaking out? To make a fool of you? They are freaking out because...please let the light bulb go on now...this flu is killing the wrong people. This flu is killing young, healthy adults. That is NOT the normal flu kill demo. This is a pandemic demo. That is the reason for the international freakout.

And you thought you were being so clever, telling us hysterics to calm down.

Right now, this flu has not killed a single American. Or anyone but Mexicans as far as we know and we don't know why. It's quite mild here.

Yet all these precautions are still being taken. Why? Well, one reason is that the 1918 pandemic came in three stages: mild in summer, deadlier in fall, deadliest in winter.

So we won't know for a long time whether we dodged the bullet or not.

As for the 36,171 flu deaths you consider NORMAL and no problem...anyone who doesn't take flu seriously is likely to make one of that number. But you're right. Nobody is worried about 36,171. We are concerned about millions.

[iamthebandfanman]

4. i dont consider them normal

i consider them the average number of people who die from the flu!
its not my opinion, its a statistical average.


states arent even required to report flu cases for people over 18.
As of June 19, 2008, 83 deaths associated with laboratory-confirmed influenza infections have occurred among children aged < 18 years during the 2007--08 influenza season that were reported to CDC.


sorry, i just dont buy into the fear.

ill give you guys the benefit tho, and see how it plays out over the next few months...


i was always told to 'hope for the best, but expect the worst' after all.

for now, ill stick to hoping.


p.s.
i dont like being painted as a cold person just because im not afraid.

[readmoreoften]

3. Yes but none of them are a strain of animal flu. /nt

[Oregone]

5. 36K dead out of a half a million people that contract the flu?

Of course not...there is a tad more than a half a million people that get the flu EACH year. A tad, tad more.

Why am I hung up on that number then, eh? Well, if the standard flu had this flu's ~7% mortality rate, then only a half a million people would of logically have it.

But this isn't the case. 1 in 3 people contract the flu in the US each year. Almost 100 million people! .036/100 = .036% mortality rate.

So, for the people who ignore a flu with a mortality rate of .036% and freak out about a flu with a mortality rate of 7%, well, hell, all the power to them.

This flu is VERY deadly (in terms of the flu), and deadly for young, healthy people. It is 194X as deadly as the standard flu. But, will it spread as much in its current form? That is the million body question.

One thing is certain: without people "freaking out", it is far more likely to spread than when people are not cautious. If you want to scoff and test your luck, fine. But before touting arbitrary figures, do a little comparison on the actual mortality rates first.

(of course, no one knows the real rates of death and infection yet for this strain, being that it is so early)

[iamthebandfanman]

6. hmmm

As of June 19, 2008, 83 deaths associated with laboratory-confirmed influenza infections have occurred among children aged < 18 years during the 2007--08 influenza season that were reported to CDC.

[Oregone]

7. What exactly are you getting at?

What about a 7% mortality rate do you not find more concerning than the average flu?

On edit: I think you might be reading that graph wrong. Its not mortality rate (correct me if Im wrong). The common flus mortality rate on any segment of the population has no comparison to this, whatsoever, by any reasonable factor.

[iamthebandfanman]

8. well frankly id like to know where u get ur total numbers from

where do u get your total number of infections in the united states on an average year? seeing as most states arent required to turn over reports on flu cases if the patient is over 18, how could you ever accurately put a number on total infections ?

how do you know the total infections of this new strain?

you honestly think mexico is capable of keeping track of everyone in the countrys health status?

i wonder how many people are infected right now and have no clue whatsoever, and may not even ever know.


the only huge difference is that there is no vaccine. nobody has been treated for this strain. so therefor nobody is resistant to it. so yes, higher risk of spreading. but tell me what the average person is supposed to do about it that they shouldnt have been doing before to make sure they didnt get the strain thats been around for a while?

you should have been washing your hands before.
you should have been wearing a mask in large public places filled with people.

we closed schools and businesses before for outbreaks in illnesses.

tell me what we are supposed to do thats so different that is cause for this panic ? there is no cure. there is no shot to take to prevent it. so why scare the shit outa everyone?


ultimately, you can make people aware without scaring them or making them think they could drop dead at any second from having contact with their neighbor.

people see virus+death and it automatically equals panic... no matter the filler information.

people ARE recovering from this flu! it is not a death sentence!

[Oregone]

9. I used the CDCs NHIS numbers...

citing 97.9 million people contracting the flu each year.

And no, you do not know the current infection rate. Its all estimates right now. But do you think they fudge their numbers that badly on the deaths to come up with a death rate 194 X the standard flu?

Most likely, not all the cases are being reported. But imagine, even if only 1 in 7 people with the swine flu were properly diagnosed, the mortality rate would then be 1% (closer to 1918 flu), which is still 27 X more deadly than the standard flu. That is nothing to scoff at. If it spread and 1 in 3 people got it, you will see a million dead.

Yes, all stats are fluid right now, but the bottom line is that this flu is a killer, and its not killing the typical people that die of the flu. This is cause for alarm. People should tend to err on the side of caution and heed travel restrictions, avoid large crowds, and clean properly.

"people ARE recovering from this flu! it is not a death sentence!"

Its a whole lot closer to a death sentence (based on early statistics) than the average flu. A whole lot more. The key here is to make sure less people contract it. Anything we can do to stop its transmission will work wonders, as far as saving lives.