China Flu Cases versus Deaths – 1.4 or 0.3 percent?

The main purpose of this post is so you can share it with people who are overly concerned about the China Flu. Since it is all based on facts it will likely get banned on social media. You might have to email it to friends or they will probably never see it.

A picture speaks a thousand words. Here is a link to a website graph on OurWorldInData.org. It is an interesting website because it gives a graphic chart that helps people see the number of diagnosed cases of China Flu versus deaths. The red line at the bottom of the graph is deaths. This graph helps you realize that deaths are very low compared to cases. If you run the numbers on a percentage calculator it works out to 1.485% of detected cases have died. To see this calculation, click here. That seems significant until you consider other facts.

It is important to remember there are likely many times the number of cases that have gone undiagnosed. According to an article by the National Institutes of Health, there were approximately 4.8 undiagnosed cases for every 1 diagnosed case. The article is dated back in June 2021 referencing earlier data from July 2020.

Nobody can be sure of how many undiagnosed cases there are, especially with the weaker Omicron variation. If we use the original number by the NIH of 4.8 undiagnosed cases for every 1 diagnosed here is the new percentage of deaths: 0.309. To see the calculation, click here. * Numbers for the base calculations above were derived from this website.

To put this in some perspective the death rate for the Flu and Pneumonia related to the flu from 2017 to 2018 was around 10%. That was a very bad flu season year. Flu varies widely by year and month. It is also not a concrete number because flu in adults is not reported to the CDC. I will quote from the CDC website at this link.

Nationally, mortality attributed to P&I exceeded 10.0% for four consecutive weeks, peaking at 10.8% during the week ending January 20, 2018.

I am NOT saying that China Flu is nothing to concern yourself with. I don’t even like catching a cold or flu. Who does? If you are hospitalized or die from a cold, flu, or COVID it sucks. If hospitals are overwhelmed that sucks too. I neither advocate for nor against the vaccine. That is always a personal decision just like the flu shot. Again, the point of this post is to put things into perspective, especially for those who are so fearful it is causing mental health issues.

---

Side Note

Back in September, I posted a Fact Check on what we call “breakthrough cases”. Even though I linked to the UK’s version of the CDC website and other credible sources some criticized the piece. At that time, 95% of the UK had antibodies and at least 85% of the US had antibodies. We have to be at nearly 100% by now because that was prior to the Delta Variant. Therefore, the majority of cases and deaths were already “breakthrough cases” back then. There is no escaping this virus just like the flu and the common cold.

My humble opinion is if you were not a nervous wreck before the China Flu there is no reason to be one now. Just be smart and avoid sick people, especially if you have other health issues.

 

Comment and follow us on X – Click Here