CDC: 80,000 People Died Of Flu Last Winter In U.S., Highest Death Toll In 40 years

AP via Stat ^ | 09/26/18

[fireman15]

My best friend is still working as a batallion chief on the department I served on for 25 years. He said that they have been overwhelmed by young people with no symptoms who fear they have had an exposure and are demanding that they be tested. But thus far the tests are only being administered around here to people in groups at risk with symptoms, politicians and celebrities.

[fireman15]

We have a similar situation in Eastern King County Washington. We have half a million recent Chinese immigrants living here. This thing has been going around the community since at least sometime in December. It seemed like a bad flu season with everyone hacking around. The real question is not if you will get it, but when you had it. Since the current test only determines if you have an active infection we may never know the true extent.

We were the epicenter in the US... It is a little surprising to me given the hype that the vast majority of dead are still from nursing homes who had a lot of vulnerable people.

And the level of PC thinking around here is probably similar to Italy.

[Steve Van Doorn]

Germany, US, South Korea and UK blocked the SARS vaccine of 2004. The vaccine was based on Antibody-dependent enhancement which made those that took it far more at risk of infection
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibody-dependent_enhancement

[gleneagle]

Northern Italy has tens of thousands of Chinese workers coming in and out. Southern Italy doesn’t.

[ClearCase_guy]

To me, that’s barely interesting.

You’re telling me HOW the virus was introduced to Northern Italy.
I get it — lots of fashion, lots of travel, lots of people from China coming an going. WHAM! Northern Italy has the virus!

Does no one from Northern Italy ever travel to Southern Italy?
If this virus is easily transmissible, could it spread from Milan to Florence to Rome to Salerno? Slowly marching from North to South?

Someone posted that the South is seeing some higher caseloads. OK. That’s somewhat logical. But overall, it seems like the Chinese came into Milan and surrounding areas, gave everyone the virus and then the virus just sort of “pools” there and most of Italy sits back and says, “Wow. I’m glad that’s not us.”

The 2 big concerns are ease of transmission and mortality rate. From what I see, that ease of transmission thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

[Mastador1]

An estimated 80,000 Americans died of flu and its complications last winter — the disease’s highest death toll in at least four decades.

Media's take:

Trump responsible for the death of 80,000 Americans!

[eastexsteve]

We haven’t deployed either ship yet; the one ship is in transit to the west coast, the other ship was in for major repairs, and they just finished short-cutting that and sent it on it’s way.

One ship arrived in NY this morning.

[Fred Nerks]

Southern Italy didn’t have direct flights of foreign workers from China into Prado in the North, home of the Italian garment industry.