Yeah, a better measure would be what percentage of people who got the shot died from it versus what percentage of people who did not get the shot died from the flu. And even that's not a great measure, because it doesn't take into account herd immunity.

Approximately 40,000 Americans die each year from flu and flu-related conditions.

That number never fails to shock me.

'76 had shenanigans -- the drug companies petitioned congress for liability immunity and got it, there was political posturing on all sides.

The flu wasn't that virulent, not that many people ever caught it, even without mass immunization (fewer than 33% of the public) and even though several deaths attributed to the shot (which caused panic) proved not to be caused by it, more people did actually die from that shot (25) than that flu (1).

There are enough similarities between this "special" flu scare and '76s "special" flu scare that its churned up old fears.

I'm not saying "so don't get the H1N1 shot," I'm saying that people freaking a bit on this isn't completly out of woo-woo left field.

The "special" thing, of course, is the ghost of 1918 when the flu fatalities weren't the usual imunocompromised/elderly demographic but the young and healthy. The one '76 fatality was a soldier on active duty at Fort Dix -- and everyone freaked the 'eff out.

That number never fails to shock me.

The really shocking number is the 20-100 million deaths in 1918-19. (They used to say 20 million, but current research is leaning towards 50 million plus deaths related to the flu pandemic.)

Also that number is just deaths. I think over the course of two year half the world or a quarter of the world or some such staggering percentage caught it.

I think over the course of two year half the world or a quarter of the world or some such staggering percentage caught it.

Yeah, well, let's talk percentages.

Black Death! One third of Europe: dead.

Sure, but that's just Europe.

This is interesting:

After the lethal second wave struck in the autumn of 1918, the disease died down abruptly. New cases almost dropped to nothing after the peak in the second wave.[9] In Philadelphia for example, 4,597 people died in the week ending October 16, but by November 11 influenza had almost disappeared from the city. One explanation for the rapid decline of the lethality of the disease is that doctors simply got better at preventing and treating the pneumonia which developed after the victims had contracted the virus, although John Barry states in his book that researchers have found no evidence to support this. Another theory holds that the 1918 virus mutated extremely rapidly to a less lethal strain. This is a common occurrence with influenza viruses: there is a general tendency for pathogenic viruses to become less lethal with time, providing more living hosts.[9]

[link]

HIV? Y'all can just chill out any time now, m'kay?

I had a good friend who used to argue the point with his HIV, actually. "Look, you kill me and you're dead too..."

There's a new theory that some of the deaths in 1918 (they really have no idea how many) were actually caused by an overdose of aspirin, which was the new wonder drug at the time and the safe dosages hadn't really been worked out yet. And the symptoms of aspirin overdose look pretty similar to the flu, so if someone who already had the flu started getting them, it would be kind of hard to tell. [link]

Hil, best of luck with the PT. It definitely sounds like a good idea to ask about a cane/crutches. You can find prettier canes! [link] But crutches are better for supporting knees. See what your PT thinks.

H1N1 is killing people here too, although in smaller numbers than in the US, I believe. I'm certain that those numbers will drop if people 'at risk' take up the vaccine (apparently it's just arrived with GPs - I was wrong about it being available before). I still don't know if I'd have it, given the speed at which it's been released. Fortunately, I've had H1N1 (that was two weeks of much fun).