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> How many children died of the flu in 2020 during lockdowns and social distancing? 400 > Why are you comparing across years? Many seem to have the misconcep

> How many children died of the flu in 2020 during lockdowns and social distancing? 400 > Why are you comparing across years? Many seem to have the misconception that covid is risky for children, while they are at low risk, so I highlight that the child covid death numbers from covid was low and comparable to a normal flu season like the one in 2019.

lern_too_spel 5y ago
https://www.khou.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/verify-covid-19-more-pediatric-deaths-than-flu-last-18-months/285-2b3fef00-454b-4b43-a873-573ff6afffe7 https://www.khou.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/verify-... says it's 1, not 400. What is your source? That would make Covid hundreds of times deadlier for children than the flu. If it were a regular flu season without the mitigations that dropped flu deaths to 1, Covid would have killed even more children.
- asabjorn 5y ago
  - lern_too_spel 5y ago
    Your source says 400 have died of Covid, not of flu. One kid died of flu. Covid is a far deadlier infectious disease for children than the flu and would have been deadlier still without the mitigations that reduced flu deaths to 1. The FDA advisory panel unanimously approved the vaccine for kids. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-advisory-panel-oks-pfizer-vaccine-kids-5-11-rcna3726 https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-advisory-pane...
    - asabjorn 5y ago
      - lern_too_spel 5y ago
        Your article says the exact opposite of what you claim. It says the PCR test accurately identified Covid vs. flu. You are also misinterpreting what the term comorbidities means when you say that 75% of Covid deaths weren't due to Covid. Having those comorbidities means that you're more likely to die from Covid. By your logic, 75% of flu deaths aren't from flu every year, not just 2020-2021, leaving Covid still hundreds of times more lethal for children than the flu, which leaves them lucky to have had mitigations that contained flu and Covid deaths to such a degree.
        asabjorn 5y ago
        If covid was 100 times worse then the flu for kids we would see 40,000 to 80,000 pediatric deaths for 2020. We see about 266 which is comparable for the 180-400 for the years I cited. The new test knows the difference between flu and covid, which is why the CDC recalled the old and instituted a new that did better. However, you can’t go back in time and fix the old tests. Re-read the article to comprehend it better. You are getting hung up in the artifact for 2020, where unlike previous years there were 1 pediatric death case categorized as flu instead of 180-400 like in the years I mentioned due to the old pcr covid test not knowing the difference. It’s not hard to do a Google search on this to see that your pediatric flu death data for 2020 is not representative when compared to a normal year.
        lern_too_spel 5y ago
        What part of the article should I reread? This part? > Did previous PCR tests confuse COVID-19 cases for influenza cases? > Not at all. Or is it this part? > Dr. Broadhurst says, "The PCR test is validated against many different coronaviruses and common respiratory viruses, including influenza so that it would not give false-positive results." Maybe you're referring to this part? > How do we know COVID-19 cases aren't actually influenza? > Every PCR test must be validated, meaning checked for its sensitivity and specificity. The Nebraska Medicine PCR test has been extensively vetted with multiple ways of validation. > Dr. Broadhurst explains, "At the beginning of the pandemic, we went through a very rigorous process. That includes demonstrating the specificity of the test to exclude anything that may cause a false positive." Or perhaps you mean this part? > Researchers also looked through large databases of viral genetic sequences – the building blocks of a virus. That way, they ensured the PCR test only picked up a piece unique to SARS-CoV-2 and not another coronavirus or influenza. I don't know how many ways your article needs to tell you you're wrong before you'll believe it, except that it's larger than four. Once you understand that, your entire argument that Covid is less dangerous for kids than the flu falls apart. The reason there was only one flu death is due to masking, social distancing, and lockdowns. In that same setting, Covid caused hundreds of deaths.

lern_too_spel 5y ago

https://www.khou.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/verify-covid-19-more-pediatric-deaths-than-flu-last-18-months/285-2b3fef00-454b-4b43-a873-573ff6afffe7 https://www.khou.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/verify-... says it's 1, not 400. What is your source? That would make Covid hundreds of times deadlier for children than the flu. If it were a regular flu season without the mitigations that dropped flu deaths to 1, Covid would have killed even more children.

asabjorn 5y ago
- lern_too_spel 5y ago
  Your source says 400 have died of Covid, not of flu. One kid died of flu. Covid is a far deadlier infectious disease for children than the flu and would have been deadlier still without the mitigations that reduced flu deaths to 1. The FDA advisory panel unanimously approved the vaccine for kids. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-advisory-panel-oks-pfizer-vaccine-kids-5-11-rcna3726 https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-advisory-pane...
  - asabjorn 5y ago
    - lern_too_spel 5y ago
      Your article says the exact opposite of what you claim. It says the PCR test accurately identified Covid vs. flu. You are also misinterpreting what the term comorbidities means when you say that 75% of Covid deaths weren't due to Covid. Having those comorbidities means that you're more likely to die from Covid. By your logic, 75% of flu deaths aren't from flu every year, not just 2020-2021, leaving Covid still hundreds of times more lethal for children than the flu, which leaves them lucky to have had mitigations that contained flu and Covid deaths to such a degree.
      - asabjorn 5y ago
        If covid was 100 times worse then the flu for kids we would see 40,000 to 80,000 pediatric deaths for 2020. We see about 266 which is comparable for the 180-400 for the years I cited. The new test knows the difference between flu and covid, which is why the CDC recalled the old and instituted a new that did better. However, you can’t go back in time and fix the old tests. Re-read the article to comprehend it better. You are getting hung up in the artifact for 2020, where unlike previous years there were 1 pediatric death case categorized as flu instead of 180-400 like in the years I mentioned due to the old pcr covid test not knowing the difference. It’s not hard to do a Google search on this to see that your pediatric flu death data for 2020 is not representative when compared to a normal year.
        lern_too_spel 5y ago
        What part of the article should I reread? This part? > Did previous PCR tests confuse COVID-19 cases for influenza cases? > Not at all. Or is it this part? > Dr. Broadhurst says, "The PCR test is validated against many different coronaviruses and common respiratory viruses, including influenza so that it would not give false-positive results." Maybe you're referring to this part? > How do we know COVID-19 cases aren't actually influenza? > Every PCR test must be validated, meaning checked for its sensitivity and specificity. The Nebraska Medicine PCR test has been extensively vetted with multiple ways of validation. > Dr. Broadhurst explains, "At the beginning of the pandemic, we went through a very rigorous process. That includes demonstrating the specificity of the test to exclude anything that may cause a false positive." Or perhaps you mean this part? > Researchers also looked through large databases of viral genetic sequences – the building blocks of a virus. That way, they ensured the PCR test only picked up a piece unique to SARS-CoV-2 and not another coronavirus or influenza. I don't know how many ways your article needs to tell you you're wrong before you'll believe it, except that it's larger than four. Once you understand that, your entire argument that Covid is less dangerous for kids than the flu falls apart. The reason there was only one flu death is due to masking, social distancing, and lockdowns. In that same setting, Covid caused hundreds of deaths.