4 ms·

The average age of death from covid is higher than the average life expectancy in the U.S. By and large Africa doesn't do mass testing the way the developed wo

The average age of death from covid is higher than the average life expectancy in the U.S. By and large Africa doesn't do mass testing the way the developed world does. No tests, no cases. Young population, very few deaths. Voila. No pandemic.

andai 5y ago
Interesting perspective, I hadn't considered the age pyramid. The median age in Kenya is 20.
- chitowneats 5y ago
  It's also not just the age pyramid. In covid deaths occurring in the under 65 population, there is often a significant comorbidity that contributed to severe illness. Obesity, diabetes, etc, are at the top of that list. Africa by and large does not have the same health profile or concerns as Japan, the UK, or the U.S. None of this is to suggest that vaccines should not be distributed there. I think they should. What I'm questioning is if COVID-19 deserves to be even on, let's say, the top 10 list of problems facing Africa in 2021. Probably not.
  - NicoJuicy 5y ago
    You're completely ignoring long covid. You don't need to die from COVID-19 to experience health issues, even without previous issues.
    - chitowneats 5y ago
      Do you have any links to peer reviewed evidence of "long covid"? I haven't seen anything remotely convincing. But I am open to changing my mind.
      - scotty79 5y ago
        https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01433-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01433-3 https://www.healtheuropa.eu/research-shows-long-covid-is-linked-to-alteration-in-immune-system/107521/ https://www.healtheuropa.eu/research-shows-long-covid-is-lin... https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01283-z https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01283-z https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-research-shows-2-million-people-may-have-had-long-covid https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-research-shows-2-mill... https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/nihr-publishes-second-themed-review-on-long-covid/27232 https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/nihr-publishes-second-themed-rev... https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninashapiro/2021/06/20/study-documents-changes-in-brain-after-covid-19-infection/?sh=12ed9288403a https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninashapiro/2021/06/20/study-do... What exactly are you not convinced about?
        NicoJuicy 5y ago
        Besides the above links ( thanks for those) What's your resource that long covid isn't a thing @chitowneats? I don't understand how people can think that dying is the only issue with covid. I know young people ( mid 30), that had it very bad. And I was scared as shit to have the same. I'm vaccinated now though.
        chitowneats 5y ago
        Most of us in our mid 30's have mild cases. Until I see evidence of it, I'm going to treat it as media driven hysteria. Like masks on 4 year olds. From the first link above: "loss of taste and/or smell (28%, 17/61), fatigue (21%, 13/61), dyspnea (13%, 8/61), impaired concentration (13%, 8/61) and memory problems (11%, 7/61)." Does anyone really consider these to be a serious syndrome caused by covid infection? I'm pretty sure I experienced most of these from the lockdowns alone. Lots of folks also think they have fibromyalgia and that it's not just in their head (it is). From the second link: “It remains to be established if these immune alterations are unique to COVID-19, or whether they are also observed following other severe respiratory infections." Uh, ok...
        scotty79 5y ago
comicjk 5y ago
This is a statistically shoddy talking point. The average of all causes of death is right at the average life expectancy, by definition. Any cause of death weighted towards the elderly will have an average age above the average life expectancy.
- chitowneats 5y ago
  This is precisely my point. Quite easy to miss the spread of a virus when: 1) Your population is by and large not susceptible to severe illness from the virus. Rates of asymptomatic & mild cases are much higher than in developed countries. Tragically, this is because most do not live long enough to be in the high risk group. 2) No widespread testing. Pneumonia deaths are just pneumonia.
scotty79 5y ago
Except for the fact that each infection is opportunity for the virus to mutate into something surely more infectious and even accodentally more nasty.

andai 5y ago

Interesting perspective, I hadn't considered the age pyramid. The median age in Kenya is 20.

chitowneats 5y ago
It's also not just the age pyramid. In covid deaths occurring in the under 65 population, there is often a significant comorbidity that contributed to severe illness. Obesity, diabetes, etc, are at the top of that list. Africa by and large does not have the same health profile or concerns as Japan, the UK, or the U.S. None of this is to suggest that vaccines should not be distributed there. I think they should. What I'm questioning is if COVID-19 deserves to be even on, let's say, the top 10 list of problems facing Africa in 2021. Probably not.
- NicoJuicy 5y ago
  You're completely ignoring long covid. You don't need to die from COVID-19 to experience health issues, even without previous issues.
  - chitowneats 5y ago
    Do you have any links to peer reviewed evidence of "long covid"? I haven't seen anything remotely convincing. But I am open to changing my mind.
    - scotty79 5y ago
      https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01433-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01433-3 https://www.healtheuropa.eu/research-shows-long-covid-is-linked-to-alteration-in-immune-system/107521/ https://www.healtheuropa.eu/research-shows-long-covid-is-lin... https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01283-z https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01283-z https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-research-shows-2-million-people-may-have-had-long-covid https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-research-shows-2-mill... https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/nihr-publishes-second-themed-review-on-long-covid/27232 https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/nihr-publishes-second-themed-rev... https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninashapiro/2021/06/20/study-documents-changes-in-brain-after-covid-19-infection/?sh=12ed9288403a https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninashapiro/2021/06/20/study-do... What exactly are you not convinced about?
      - NicoJuicy 5y ago
        Besides the above links ( thanks for those) What's your resource that long covid isn't a thing @chitowneats? I don't understand how people can think that dying is the only issue with covid. I know young people ( mid 30), that had it very bad. And I was scared as shit to have the same. I'm vaccinated now though.
        chitowneats 5y ago
        Most of us in our mid 30's have mild cases. Until I see evidence of it, I'm going to treat it as media driven hysteria. Like masks on 4 year olds. From the first link above: "loss of taste and/or smell (28%, 17/61), fatigue (21%, 13/61), dyspnea (13%, 8/61), impaired concentration (13%, 8/61) and memory problems (11%, 7/61)." Does anyone really consider these to be a serious syndrome caused by covid infection? I'm pretty sure I experienced most of these from the lockdowns alone. Lots of folks also think they have fibromyalgia and that it's not just in their head (it is). From the second link: “It remains to be established if these immune alterations are unique to COVID-19, or whether they are also observed following other severe respiratory infections." Uh, ok...
        scotty79 5y ago

comicjk 5y ago

This is a statistically shoddy talking point. The average of all causes of death is right at the average life expectancy, by definition. Any cause of death weighted towards the elderly will have an average age above the average life expectancy.

chitowneats 5y ago
This is precisely my point. Quite easy to miss the spread of a virus when: 1) Your population is by and large not susceptible to severe illness from the virus. Rates of asymptomatic & mild cases are much higher than in developed countries. Tragically, this is because most do not live long enough to be in the high risk group. 2) No widespread testing. Pneumonia deaths are just pneumonia.

scotty79 5y ago

Except for the fact that each infection is opportunity for the virus to mutate into something surely more infectious and even accodentally more nasty.