Flu is tested, but it is cost-prohibitive to test every single person for flu. People who don't go to the doctor don't get tested; only a portion of those who make outpatient visits are tested. Those who end up hospitalized are always tested. Out of necessity, the number of people who get the flu and do not seek medical attention *must* be estimated through various methods; there simply is no way to count them. But, for the other flu patients, statistical analyses are completely adequate for deriving the number of flu cases. For the purpose of documenting flu incidence, all patients visiting certain facilities and who meet certain criteria are tested. From that, the incidence of flu is determined and used to extrapolate the number of flu cases among all patients in that area presenting with flu like symptoms. If you examined the CDC weekly flu link I provided earlier, that is how they determine those numbers.
The WNV rates are determined only from people who seek medical attention. To get a full picture of WNV incidence, a statistically significant number of the general population in the outbreak area needs to be tested for seroconversion, and the seroconversion rate can be used to estimate how many cases there actually were. It could be that everyone who gets WNV is so sick they go to the doctor, but there could also be a large number of people who never get that sick. I don't know, because I haven't read everything about the current WNV outbreak, and the seroconversion studies take a while to conduct anyway. Flu rates are also determined through seroconversion studies.
The public health data is not typically publicized, but it's available through the CDC site, and more detailed study reports are databased in PubMed. The methodology is also available through those agencies. Nothing is deliberately hidden about methodologies or disease rates; the CDC wants that information to be available because very few researchers or medical professionals actually work for the CDC, but they need that information.
“it’s available through the CDC site, and more detailed study reports are databased in PubMed. The methodology is also available through those agencies. Nothing is deliberately hidden about methodologies or disease rates; the CDC wants that information to be available because very few researchers or medical professionals actually work for the CDC, but they need that information.”
In fact, it is NOT available. To anyone. By any means. The 36000 number was NOT made available via ANY information in anything databased in pubmed. You can get the number, 36000. Nothing more. No background information. No raw data, no epidemiological methodology information. Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
People who HAVE asked are told ‘national security’ prohibits their getting ahold of this information.
That number, 36000, was pulled out with the rest of her toe jam.
In short, the criteria used for ‘flu death’ is a matter of ‘national security’ and no one is able to discern exactly what the criteria was. So you just have to trust them. In spite of the fact that the head of the CDC when that ‘study’ was done is now the head of Mercks vaccine division.
Um. yeah.