Wall Street Journal reporting flu is nearly non-existent

[ChattanoogaPhil]

So:

Influenza, which usually kills tens of thousands this time of year, is almost non-existent. While we are told that Coronavirus is raging out of control.

What's happening here is easy to see. Flu illnesses and deaths are being called Covid illnesses and deaths, and after that, the numbers can be inflated as needed.


This is similar to what the media does when it reports that "there are 35,000 gun murders a year." no there aren't. Most of those are suicides but they confuse the suicides with the murders. So here they get to blame flu sickness on "Covid."

------------

I agree that precise language is important. That said, you are guilty of that which you accuse others. The media reports I read are yearly gun related deaths. You are confusing reported deaths with "murders". You're characterization is even more misleading than that which you accuse others.

Below is the gun-haters network, CNN, citing from gun-hating CDC. They repeatedly mention suicides and related numbers. In fact, they provide a graph on suicides.

(CNN) — Gun deaths in America have reached a record high.

Nearly 40,000 people in the United States died by guns last year, marking the highest number of gun deaths in decades, according to a new analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database.

CNN replicated that analysis and found that 39,773 people died by guns in 2017, which is an increase of more than 10,000 deaths from the 28,874 in 1999. The age-adjusted rate of firearm deaths per 100,000 people rose from 10.3 per 100,000 in 1999 to 12 per 100,000 in 2017.

CDC statisticians confirmed with CNN on Thursday that these numbers are correct and they show gun deaths have reached a record-high going back to at least 1979, which was the year firearm deaths started to be coded in mortality data.

CNN replicated that analysis and found that 39,773 people died by guns in 2017, which is an increase of more than 10,000 deaths from the 28,874 in 1999. The age-adjusted rate of firearm deaths per 100,000 people rose from 10.3 per 100,000 in 1999 to 12 per 100,000 in 2017.

CDC statisticians confirmed with CNN on Thursday that these numbers are correct and they show gun deaths have reached a record-high going back to at least 1979, which was the year firearm deaths started to be coded in mortality data.

CNN’s analysis also showed that, within the total number of deaths, 23,854 people died from suicide by guns in 2017, the highest number in 18 years. That’s a difference of more than 7,000 deaths compared with 16,599 suicide deaths by guns in 1999.

The age-adjusted rate of suicide deaths by firearm rose from 6.0 in 1999 to 6.9 in 2017.



https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/13/healt...cdc/index.html

[AndyLate]

No one is saying it's fake. I'm not sure where you guys get that from.

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

This. Covid miraculously eliminates Flu deaths for a whole season? Doubting that makes you a Covid denier?

People die from the flu amost every year and have for centuries. It is extremely hard to believe that Covid changed that.

Andy

[ChattanoogaPhil]

"An expert with Kaiser Permanente says by early January, California would normally see a serious uptick in flu cases, but not this year.

"There's no question this year is an extraordinary year," said Kaiser Permanente flu expert Dr. Randy Bergen, who told ABC7 News that by early January, California would normally see a serious uptick in flu cases, but not this year.

"We are testing still thousands of people in our emergency room settings and in our hospitals for a combination of COVID and flu tests and we're essentially seeing no flu. Some weeks we'll have no cases, other we'll have maybe one or two cases."

Some say all the precautions taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are keeping flu cases at bay. But if they're so effective with one virus, why not the other?

"It's a great question," said Stanford global health professor Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, who explained part of the answer may lie in pre-coronavirus studies in recent years that revealed an odd sort of competition among viruses.

"It could be something about infection with one virus may somehow decrease the risk of infection with others," said Maldonado. "Now whether it's immunity or they just suppress the growth of another virus, it's not really clear, but there's certainly an inkling from a couple of years ago, that viruses can compete."

Another contributing factor -- many more people received flu vaccines this year.

And, many children are not in school, and not gathering with friends nearly as often as they would normally.

"Flu always starts in the schools. It starts with children," said Bergen.

Experts caution people not to let their guard down. There's still plenty of time this winter for the flu to make a comeback."

https://abc7.com/9373604/

[ChattanoogaPhil]

This. Covid miraculously eliminates Flu deaths for a whole season? Doubting that makes you a Covid denier?


People die from the flu amost every year and have for centuries. It is extremely hard to believe that Covid changed that.

Andy

Is it that you don't believe statements such as from Kaiser Permanente flu expert Dr. Randy Bergen, who says they're testing thousands of people for a combination of COVID and flu but essentially seeing no flu? Or... is your disbelief similar to my grandmother straightening the electrical cord on the toaster before plugging it in because she found it extremely hard to believe that electricity would go though a twisted cord.

I haven't seen a single reason, but rather a host of reasons. More flu shots, better hygiene and prevention, working at home, kids not in schools, competing viruses... on and on. While the cause/effect is less than crystal clear at this time, I believe the testing and observations as described.

[Whalstib]

Of course!

Science is 50% BS!

When I was completing my MS in geology I came to the conclusion that my original hypothesis was false! I mean as I'm in final draft time!

Advisor just says "keep it the same; minimize the conflicting data!".

Your NSF grants hard at work!

[C-grunt]

I went and got an antibody test after my wife got Covid and I tested negative even though I was sick with the same symptoms.

I was talking with the doctor and the topic of the drop in flu cases popped up on the tv. She said "of course there is a huge drop in flu cases, no one is testing for the flu right now".

[AndyLate]

Is it that you don't believe statements such as from Kaiser Permanente flu expert Dr. Randy Bergen, who says they're testing thousands of people for a combination of COVID and flu but essentially seeing no flu? Or... is your disbelief similar to my grandmother straightening the electrical cord on the toaster before plugging it in because she found it extremely hard to believe that electricity would go though a twisted cord.

I haven't seen a single reason, but rather a host of reasons. More flu shots, better hygiene and prevention, working at home, kids not in schools, competing viruses... on and on. While the cause/effect is less than crystal clear at this time, I believe the testing and observations as described.

I and "Kaiser Permanente flu expert Dr. Randy Bergen" both find the data extraordinary. Does that mean that he, I, and your grandmother are all idiots?

Your condescending tone is not needed, appreciated, or in keeping with the expected norms of this forum.

Perhaps you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself why you are incapable of civil discourse and feel the need to make personal attacks when someone's opinion does not precisely align with your view of the world.

Andy

[prepare]

Haven't missed a days work, haven't worn a mask, haven't made any effort to distance myself from others anymore than usual. My son (who is still at home) has continued jujitsu 3 days per week with 20+ grown men sweating and bleeding on each other with no masks. Nobody's been sick. Jujitsu was closed for 6 weeks around mid 2020 per state mandate (of course that still trained). No one at work wears the mask either and only one dude has supposedly had covid though he had no symptoms.

[SeriousStudent]

Ya know, we already have a another COVID thread, And since this one can't remain polite, away it goes.