China's coronavirus has 'the same death rate as the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50m people'

Yahoo Style UK ^ | January 22, 2020 | Alexandra Thompson

[BenLurkin]

Chinese officials have confirmed 440 cases of the new coronavirus strain - 2019-nCoV - so far, with 17 deaths. Based on existing data, it is said to have a 2% death rate.

This means that for every 50 people who catch the infection, one will statistically die.

To put this into context, around one in every 1,000 who develop flu die, giving it a death rate of 0.1%. “This [2019-nCoV’s death rate] could be 2%, similar to Spanish flu,” Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London, said.

Professor Peter Horby, from the University of Oxford, pointed out fatality estimations are based on “clinical data around hospital cases”.

Of those in hospital, “15%-to-20% are severe cases”, defined as needing ventilation.

Coronaviruses as a class are common, causing everything from the common cold to epidemics like severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).

2019-nCoV is thought to have originated in animals before “jumping” over to humans.

[hanamizu]

Here’s a YouTube that gives a pretty good idea of how bad the Spanish flu was. Even explains how and why it got its name...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE0-WWqhFls&t=148s&frags=pl%2Cwn

[Pelham]

“Good point. But the SF developed very fast in younger people.”

That’s due to ‘cytokine storm’.

A hybrid flu like 1918 causes an extreme response by your immune system. It will flood your lungs with antibodies and you can literally drown in them. Young adults with strong immune systems were at greatest risk.

There were 1918 stories of children leaving for school with two healthy parents and returning to find themselves orphaned. It could kill that quickly.

My paternal grandfather caught that flu at an Army camp stateside and it nearly killed him. There were so many severly ill soldiers that the Army didn’t have enough medical staff to treat them. They put out a call for civilian volunteers to come help.

[mad_as_he$$]

Thanks!