America Should Have Stayed Home This Flu Season

[DFSNOLE]

It ran through my office in a big way. I told folks that if they got me sick before my cruise, I was going to return and go postal on them.


Influenza isn’t just widespread — the strains in circulation are also severe. As the following chart illustrates, the share of doctor visits for flu and flu-like illnesses has not been this high since the 2009-10 season, when the flu hit early and hard but then quickly declined. (The flu season typically begins around October, peaks somewhere between December and February and peters out by the end of May.)


Still, there’s some good news out this week. Data released Friday shows that, after a steep and steady rise over the past weeks, doctor visits for flu and flu-like illnesses are finally dropping.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/america-should-have-stayed-home-this-flu-season/

 

[goldmom]

I think that if we lacked the advances we've made in medicine, this could have become an epidemic to rival the flu epidemic of 1918.

 

[Spearhead04]

I think that if we lacked the advances we've made in medicine, this could have become an epidemic to rival the flu epidemic of 1918.

I think if nature wants to have its way there could be a deadly strain and we won’t have a thing we can do about it.

 

[Wendy79]

I think that if we lacked the advances we've made in medicine, this could have become an epidemic to rival the flu epidemic of 1918.

And people still won't get vaccines.

 

[ohio#1nolefan]

I had the stomach flu this year and it sucked. I felt perfectly fine when I went to bed at 11 then at 3 am woke up vomiting my brains out with bad stomach cramps. Bed ridden for about 3 days then felt like crap for another 2 days..That happened 2 days after Xmas..Fortunately, I haven't caught the respiratory strain.

 

[Urban Cryer]

I think it's only a matter of time until there is a massive outbreak in one of the worlds super cities like Cairo, Delhi, etc where millions will die. Those places are hygiene nightmares!

 

[Wendy79]

I had the stomach flu this year and it sucked. I felt perfectly fine when I went to bed at 11 then at 3 am woke up vomiting my brains out with bad stomach cramps. Bed ridden for about 3 days then felt like crap for another 2 days..That happened 2 days after Xmas..Fortunately, I haven't caught the respiratory strain.

There is no stomach flu. Only Zuul. Er, some form of gastroenteritis.

 

[Wendy79]

I think it's only a matter of time until there is a massive outbreak in one of the worlds super cities like Cairo, Delhi, etc where millions will die. Those places are hygiene nightmares!

I'd imagine super cases of TB are more likely to come from that area (and I think Saudi Arabia in particular had some nasty cases).

Strains of flu mix together easily, so when you have pigs, birds, and humans living in close quarters (like in Asia), you have more new strains that have different characteristics.

Regardless, a massive pandemic will happen someday.

 

[ericram]

Nature finds a way.

 

[Urban Cryer]

Nature finds a way.

Very true, as well as mankind does. If you think about it, what would the population of the world be right now had WW1 and 2 not happened? I'm not saying they were good for mankind obviously, but I just wonder what it would be like now population wise.

 

[GoNolesTX]

I think that if we lacked the advances we've made in medicine, this could have become an epidemic to rival the flu epidemic of 1918.

Glad to see you made it out unscathed!

 

[seminole97]

I'm not saying they were good for mankind obviously, but I just wonder what it would be like now population wise.

I always thought it was more about places getting relatively wealthy and then the birth rate declining.
If anything, it seems like those wars and their destruction were in the way of that process. Obviously 10s of millions of lives lost, but the overall percentage of the population in light of the population growth rates I didn't think made them much in the way of population limiters.

U.S. is wealthy, but has an immigration driver larger than most, and our future pop growth is going to be largely immigration driven:

"Moving forward, Pew projects the U.S. population to expand from 324 million last year to 441 million in 2065 - a 36 percent increase. With no immigration after 2015, Pew says the population still would grow but only to 338 million in 2065. That would be a 4 percent increase over 50 years."

More importantly, is what that would mean for the workforce:
"Without immigrants, Pew projects the total U.S. workforce population -- those ages 25 to 64 -- would fall from 173.2 million in 2015 to 165.6 million in 2035."

 

[FreeFlyNole]

It's not just the flu. My little petri dishes, er, loving children have brought home strep, a sinus infection and the common cold too... it's been brutal here.

 

[ohio#1nolefan]

There is no stomach flu. Only Zuul. Er, some form of gastroenteritis.

I guess you are that person...

 

[DFSNOLE]

There is no stomach flu. Only Zuul. Er, some form of gastroenteritis.

I guess you are that person...

The person who speaks factually?

 

[Wendy79]

I guess you are that person...

Yes, absolutely.

 

[billanole]

Yes, absolutely.

Stand skrong, Wendy. You are one of the best.