These are amazing stats, set out in the Globe:
"With all this talk of pandemic influenza we can't afford to forget annual influenza," she said. In a "normal" year, flu kills about 4,000 Canadians and leads to the hospitalization of 20,000 others. If one of the circulating strains is particularly nasty, the rates double to 8,000 deaths and 40,000 hospitalizations, according to data published by the Canadian Public Health Agency. That is a horrific toll for a disease that is largely preventable through vaccination.It is from an article called "Human Form of H5N1 Flu Not A Given". It reminded me of another flu panic from 30 years ago - swine flu from 1976. Not that I am naysaying the concerns but normal flu is bad enough and a scare can be roused up.
When I kak from H5N1 you can quote this back to me.
Comments
'nee - October 24, 2005 2:28 PM
I, too, wondered about the panic over a flu that hasn't even transferred species yet. How about worrying about the 100,000 people that preventable heart disease will kill this year? That seems much more worrying than a possible flu threat that may or may not take out the same numbers.