3 ms·

I've never known a doctor actually run a test for flu. You couldn't even get a test for Covid either for much of last year, even if the symptoms were blatant. I

by opk 5y ago

I've never known a doctor actually run a test for flu. You couldn't even get a test for Covid either for much of last year, even if the symptoms were blatant. I know a few people who simply stayed home with Covid symptoms and never ventured out to a doctor - and thus were never counted in the statistics. I had bad flu last year and because of home working, I went back to "work" once I reached the number of days after which I needed a doctor's note. In normal times I'd have gone to the doctor to get a sick note rather than infect my colleagues.

ineedasername 5y ago
Your awareness on flu testing is an indication of the limits of your knowledge, not a lack of testing. Others in this discussion have provided links with hard data on testing from the CDC for the US. For a world-wide picture, FluNet w/ GISRS also provide data on testing. These form the basis of overall infection estimates. If you are interested in the methodology of those estimates, here is the CDC overviews, complete with citations for the primary research that informed the creation of their models: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/how-cdc-estimates.htm#estimates-Influenza https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/how-cdc-estimates.htm#e...