Why did the flu kill 80,000 Americans last year?

The 2017-2018 flu season was historically severe. Public health officials estimate that 900,000 Americans were hospitalized and 80,000 died from the flu and its complications. For comparison, the previous worst season from the past decade, 2010-2011, saw 56,000 deaths. In a typical season, 30,000 Americans die.

So why was the 2017-2018 season such a bad year for flu? There were two big factors.

First, one of the circulating strains of the influenza virus, A(H3N2), is particularly virulent, and vaccines targeting it are less effective than those aimed at other strains. In addition, most of the vaccine produced was mismatched to the circulating A(H3N2) subtype.

These problems reflect the special biology of the influenza virus and the methods by which vaccines are produced.

https://theconversation.com/why-did-...st-year-105095

 

Did they ,unless they have sound medical reasons not to do so, get flu shots its to me the first line of defense from getting the flu. And this year my insurance paid for it and I got a $10 grocery store gift card so got 'paid' by my insurance and the store to get it. And didn't get sick yet over a slight head cold and cough for a week. Last year I had it more serious but the shot still deadened the worst of the symptoms for me and kept it less dangerous by a long shot.

 

Sounds like a bad season for flu.

 

min wage workers do not get paid to stay home sick, so they often go into work and they fix your food, stock shelves at the grocery, ect....

if employers pay people to stay home if sick, they usually stay home

and of course children in schools, probable one of the fastest ways they spread

 

Colds kill more people every year.

 

Urging people to work sick seems to be a bad idea. Germany had about 1,000 flu deaths in the last season, that would mean that the number of US Americans dying has been twenty times larger.

 

Make the flu illegal.

 

Hmm.. so 2.8 million folks died in 2017. Of which, 80K died from complications from the flux. Not exactly the flux itself, just complications, which might have been derivative of the fact that 900K folks were admitted at hospitals. As we know, hospitalization itself is the 3rd leading cause of US deaths...

 

Kids spread everything

Flu colds nits, your household secrets............

 

So, stay away from any advanced health care

Think of it as evolution in action

 

the doctors all wash their hands, but they never seem to wash the hands of the patient before or after surgery