Posted on 01/27/2018 8:35:55 PM PST by blam
We all know that this years flu season is bad. I have been pouring over numbers and reports over the past few days, and its actually even worse than were hearing about. Tens of thousands of Americans are dying. Its now worse than the 2009 swine flu outbreak and is on track with the 2014-15 strain. And its not showing any signs of slowing down.
Despite this, the media is downplaying the severity of the flu and the government makes the statistics pretty difficult to find. Are they trying to avoid a panic? Do they know something we dont?
Heres what you need to know about why this years flu is so dangerous.
This Years Flu Strain Is More Deadly
The dominant Influenza strain this year is H3N2. This particular strain has a history of causing more hospitalizations and more deaths. According to the CDC:
In the past, H3N2-predominant seasons have been associated with more severe illness and higher mortality, especially in older people and young children, relative to H1N1- or B-predominant seasons. Between 1976 and 2007, for example, CDC estimates that an average of 28,909 people died from flu during H3N2 seasons, compared to 10,648 people during non-H3N2 predominant years.
Thats a difference of 18,261 adults each year. And thats in a good year.
In addition to H3N2 producing a more serious infection in general, this years particular H3N2 influenza virus is particularly virulent. The number of deaths due to influenza or complications to the flu, such as pneumonia (a secondary bacterial infection following influenza), varies from year to year.
An August 27, 2010 MMWR report entitled Thompson MG et al. Updated Estimates of Mortality Associated with Seasonal Influenza through the 2006-2007 Influenza Season. MMWR 2010; 59(33): 1057-1062., provided estimates of the range of flu-associated deaths
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at theburningplatform.com ...
Front page article on Drudge — 50,000 deaths expected.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-26/flu-season-from-hell-keeps-getting-worse
Doesn’t seem like they’re downplaying it.
'The 1918 flu pandemic (January 1918 December 1920) was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus.[1] It infected 500 million people around the world,[2] including remote Pacific islands and the Arctic, and resulted in the deaths of 50 to 100 million (three to five percent of the world's population),[3] making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history."
Wikipedia.
Even if it’s flu plus, still how does this compare to other flus?
And to be fair, are modern ills of dissipation like HIV included disproportionately here?
>>Vitamin D for Influenza:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4463890/
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Just a quick reminder for anyone taking Vitamin D3 (which is wonderful)....remember to take Vitamin K2 with it.
Research the synergistic relationship between D3 and Vitamin K2-(MK-7 type). It is very important that they be taken together to avoid calcium being deposited into joints, if K2 is not also taken with it.
A strain of H3N2 is included every year in the flu shot, along with a strain of H1N1 and either the Victoria or the Yamagata type of influenza B. The newer quadrivalent shots contain both influenza B types.
I am not sure why "they" are saying that the flu is particularly bad this year because it is an H3N2 strain. The 2009 pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands was H1N1, as was the 1918 pandemic that killed tens of millions. Two other pandemics in the 20th century were caused by H2N2 and H3N2.
I take my dogs for a walk in the woods every day. These berries are plentiful and on each side of the paths that I take. I call them Elderberries though. It's to cold for them now.
That’s a strong hypothesis in my mind.
Every year we got the flu shots, we got sick as dogs. Flu? Who knows. In recent years, we stopped the shots and so far are doing much better. Of course, we take lots of quality natural supplements, too.
How to tell this year’s flu hysteria is all hype by Michael Fumento
https://nypost.com/2018/01/19/how-to-tell-this-years-flu-hysteria-is-all-hype/
Wow! Glad you all are better!
I currently have the flu. I just took some vitamin D. Thanks.
A posting like this cheapens Freerepublic. The uninformed are always around, even here.
The last flu shot I had was prior to the swine flu vaccine. Watching that fiasco convinced me that I better off taking my chances.
Thanks.
bookmark
FWIW this is the Centennial of the great Spanish Influenza of 1918.
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My Grandmother dies in that pandemic.
He still a righteous man?
So 2017-2018 is on track to be "as bad" as 2014-2015—three years ago, right? So what's the big deal?
What earth-shattering news—flu seasons fluctuate, and some years are much worse than others! OMG!
What a bunch of hysteria! Maybe the President should declare Martial Law—or not.
Boy! Talk about a "tempest in a teapot"...
“...took 50K IU of d3 when we got home. We took 10K IU at bedtime and 10K IU again the next morning.”
That seems like a lot. I only take 2K per day.
Excerpted
Health officials say this year’s correctly shot targets the strains that are making Americans sick, including one causing most of the illness, a Type A H3N2 flu virus. But exactly well it is working won’t be known until next month.
The same virus was the dominant flu bug last winter, when the flu season wasn’t so bad. It’s not clear why this season led by the same bug is so much more intense, some experts said.
“That’s the kicker. This virus really doesn’t look that different from what we saw last year,” said Richard Webby, a flu researcher at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
It may be that many of the people getting sick this year managed to avoid infection last year. Or there may be some degree of mutation in the virus that hasn’t been detected yet, said the CDC’s Dr. Dan Jernigan, in a call with reporters Friday.
Based on patterns from past seasons, it’s likely flu season will start to wane soon, experts say. There are some places, like California, where flu season already seems to be easing, CDC officials said.
Associated Press via
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