[SunkenCiv]

I agree, it’s being used as a Trojan Horse for nationalized health care. And the flu comes around annually, so it is common. But from time to time a widespread strain happens to be deadly; the Spanish Lady of 1918 is best known — it killed many more worldwide than had died in WWI — but the 19th century had a series of killer strains, and one outbreak in the 1970s (could have been 1975, it happened during the Ford administration, and Carter supporters pissed and moaned about it and blamed Ford for supposed mishandling of the vaccine program) killed a bunch. Quite a few die each year, from influenza, despite availability of vaccines and medications. Kinda puts the AIDS “pandemic” into perspective.

[justiceseeker93]

I'm very well aware of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic and the death toll it caused. But if that same virulent flu strain were to hypothetically recur, deaths in the developed world would likely be markedly reduced due to the medical advances that have occurred in the intervening time.

BTW, the masks that we are now seen being worn in film from Mexico have only minimal effectiveness in preventing the spread of the disease. They were very commonly used in the US during the 1918-19 pandemic.