>the flu averages out to about 10k deaths each year
There's actually a lot of controversy around these numbers, with the CDC itself acknowledging that it's challenging to truly know for a number of reasons [1].
Here's a pretty remarkable quote from that page:
>"most people who die from seasonal flu-related complications are not tested for flu, or they seek medical care later in their illness when seasonal influenza can no longer be detected from respiratory samples"
So, it's really tough to know. As a result, some allege that the estimates are inflated as part of the campaign to ensure vaccination.
There's actually a lot of controversy around these numbers, with the CDC itself acknowledging that it's challenging to truly know for a number of reasons [1].
Here's a pretty remarkable quote from that page:
>"most people who die from seasonal flu-related complications are not tested for flu, or they seek medical care later in their illness when seasonal influenza can no longer be detected from respiratory samples"
So, it's really tough to know. As a result, some allege that the estimates are inflated as part of the campaign to ensure vaccination.
[1] http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.h...