Reply #13: Stats about regular human flu

[luvspeas]

In the United States, about 5% to 20% of the population become infected with the flu virus annually. Of people who get the flu, more than 200,000 are hospitalized, and about 36,000 die from complications caused by the flu each year.

If the US population is 303,824,640

Then 15-60 million people get regular flu every year. 18% of those who go to the hospital die, or about .001-.006% of the people who get the flu die.

Considering most of the cases that the CDC will become aware of will be those who require hospitalization, it's logical that at the beginning of an event, there will appear to be more death. I'm note sure about the health care system in Mexico, but assuming it is expensive, most people who get the flu would not seek healthcare. It appears to be a late season flu, but there is little to suggest at this juncture that it's more lethal than any other. They are just watching it. I think the CDC and WHO are just testing out their early warning systems because they can track such an unusual strain. And it has some remarkable characteristics, but lethality does not appear to be one so far.

Panic...I'd say so.