excalibur
Diamond Member
- Mar 19, 2015
- 18,198
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Well put.
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The 1957 Asian flu, a form of H2N2 influenza that is believed to have originated in China, is estimated to have killed 116,000 Americans, the equivalent of roughly 200,000 in today’s larger America. Given that an estimated 25 percent of the entire country contracted that flu and a much larger share suffered from strong symptoms, one has to wonder what the recorded death toll would have been had we tested everyone and counted those deaths as liberally as we do today.
For even greater context, keep in mind that there were only about 4.9 million people over the age of 75 back then, as compared to 23 million today. So, while the general population was slightly more than half of what it is today, the over-75 population was approximately one-fifth of what it is today. The over-90 population was 1/12 of today’s advanced senior population. Accordingly, the death toll in 1957 was even more severe than with COVID-19 when one considers how many more seniors we have today. After all, the median age of death from COVID-19 is 78, roughly around life expectancy, with roughly half of all deaths occurring among sicker seniors in nursing homes.
Another more dangerous aspect of the Asian flu as compared to COVID-19 is that it seemed to be more dangerous to pregnant women and to cause birth defects, similar to what was observed during the Spanish flu. A study published in Minnesota in 1959 found that nearly 20% of deaths that occurred during pregnancy were due to the 1957-58 epidemic, making it the leading cause of death for pregnant women during those months. One-half of all women of child-bearing age who died during the epidemic were pregnant. Imagine the panic that would have induced today!
...
Also, rather than panicking everyone and counting every last case in the country, they “recommended that ‘hospital admissions be limited as far as possible to those cases of influenza with complications, or to those with other diseases which might be aggravated by influenza.’”
Health officials understood what our leaders today clearly don’t, which is that for a virus that targets only certain people with serious complications or death and is broadly mild (and today, downright asymptomatic) in most others, the worst thing you can do is treat every case like a serious case, needlessly stressing medical care, and risk spreading the virus in hospitals to vulnerable people who are already there, often for other ailments and chronic conditions. It was all about treatment where it was needed and developing a vaccine for the vulnerable.
...
The 1957 Asian flu, a form of H2N2 influenza that is believed to have originated in China, is estimated to have killed 116,000 Americans, the equivalent of roughly 200,000 in today’s larger America. Given that an estimated 25 percent of the entire country contracted that flu and a much larger share suffered from strong symptoms, one has to wonder what the recorded death toll would have been had we tested everyone and counted those deaths as liberally as we do today.
For even greater context, keep in mind that there were only about 4.9 million people over the age of 75 back then, as compared to 23 million today. So, while the general population was slightly more than half of what it is today, the over-75 population was approximately one-fifth of what it is today. The over-90 population was 1/12 of today’s advanced senior population. Accordingly, the death toll in 1957 was even more severe than with COVID-19 when one considers how many more seniors we have today. After all, the median age of death from COVID-19 is 78, roughly around life expectancy, with roughly half of all deaths occurring among sicker seniors in nursing homes.
Another more dangerous aspect of the Asian flu as compared to COVID-19 is that it seemed to be more dangerous to pregnant women and to cause birth defects, similar to what was observed during the Spanish flu. A study published in Minnesota in 1959 found that nearly 20% of deaths that occurred during pregnancy were due to the 1957-58 epidemic, making it the leading cause of death for pregnant women during those months. One-half of all women of child-bearing age who died during the epidemic were pregnant. Imagine the panic that would have induced today!
...
Also, rather than panicking everyone and counting every last case in the country, they “recommended that ‘hospital admissions be limited as far as possible to those cases of influenza with complications, or to those with other diseases which might be aggravated by influenza.’”
Health officials understood what our leaders today clearly don’t, which is that for a virus that targets only certain people with serious complications or death and is broadly mild (and today, downright asymptomatic) in most others, the worst thing you can do is treat every case like a serious case, needlessly stressing medical care, and risk spreading the virus in hospitals to vulnerable people who are already there, often for other ailments and chronic conditions. It was all about treatment where it was needed and developing a vaccine for the vulnerable.
...
