4 ms·
Comparing modern death rates to the 1919 flu, and to historical smallpox infection, is not useful. Medical technology has come a long way in a century and so av
by kupiakos 5y ago
Comparing modern death rates to the 1919 flu, and to historical smallpox infection, is not useful. Medical technology has come a long way in a century and so average mortality rates have dropped for all diseases.
2019 and 2020 had particularly dangerous flu seasons and were still significantly less deadly than COVID.
- jjk166 5y agoThe 2020-2021 flu season was the mildest flu season on record. In the US, there were only about 700 influenza deaths in the 20-21 season, compared to 22,000 in the 19-20 season, and 34,000 in the 18-19 season. Similar trends were seen around the world. [0] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flu-has-disappeared-worldwide-during-the-covid-pandemic1/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/flu-has-disappear...
- rossdavidh 5y ago2019-20 and 2020-21 were both actually milder flu seasons than normal, I believe you might have been thinking of the 2018-19 flu season? https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/past-seasons.html https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/past-seasons.html Also, the principal advantage modern medicine had in these flu seasons, compared to 1918-1919, was that we had an effective vaccine for the most at-risk population to take, and the most at-risk were not the ones most likely to be out and about working. I've never seen a convincing explanation of why the 1918-1919 flu hit young adults the hardest, but whatever the reason, we're really lucky covid-19 did not work that way.
- elzbardico 5y agoYes, modern technology have improved health care, but also increased the avenues of spread.