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Flu Widespread in U.S. 2017-2018

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    Posted: December 31 2017 at 6:32am
It has happened. There is no coverage at all in the mainstream media and the new and deadly Flu has reached most of the U.S. and is widespread in most of America.

H3N2 652 (88.1%) 5,169 (90.2%)

We have a serious problem here. It is possible the vaccine has very little effect on most people with the flu and this is only what CDC is reporting. It could be much worse.  The first numbers are for week 51 and the second cumulative.

People are sick here in California it is widespread. As the temperatures continue to drop to record lows across much of the United States things may get a lot worse.

Our media and politicians simply are not paying attention to the health of our country.  If any are reading my posts, understand that Kim Jong-un may be involved in this. The first area to have widespread flu this season was Guam.  The District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam did not report. Why not?

They did at the beginning of the season. So what is happening there now? And not in D.C. either.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 07 2018 at 6:44pm
It is getting a lot worse. I don't remember it this bad before. It is all over the U.S. - and widespread except in 3 states. Many people I know have had this since early December and still have it. The arctic temperatures are making things a lot worse.

The geographic spread of influenza in 46 states was reported as widespread; four states reported regional activity; the District of Columbia reported local activity; and Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands did not report.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote EdwinSm, Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 07 2018 at 10:08pm
But the (P&I) mortality rates are just tracing the seasonal base line....http://https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

INFLUENZA Virus Isolated
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LCfromFL Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2018 at 12:04pm
My daughter is an x-ray tech at one of the hospitals in Jacksonville, FL.  She said the ED is full today with ILI cases.  Surprised there isn't more media coverage of this.  This year's flu vaccine is such a big miss - and so many are ill.  I suspect there may be more coverage once it's officially declared a Pandemic?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2018 at 1:39pm
Just got a text from my HMO to say that their urgent care clinics and ERs are experiencing long delays due to the number of flu cases.

Now here's the thing. This is just a bad flu season - imagine how a truly nasty pandemic strain would bring healthcare systems to a standstill globally.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote carbon20 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2018 at 2:17pm
the only thing any heath system will do in the case of a "Slate wiper"  is 

BRING OUT THE BODY BAGS....................

DONT WORRY IT MAY NEVER HAPPEN .......

in any case ,if it dont kill ya,  just think of the resistance you building,

Mmmmm!!!!!
 just a thought, has this been done on purpose ???

one never never knows.......

and it just shows how often they get it right ..........(the flu vaccine every year i mean )
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2018 at 8:34am
http://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/news/world-news/1901-flu-pandemic-of-1918-now-the-flu-pandemic-of-2018-critical-outbreak-of-deadly-strain-already-killed-27-in-california-spreading-rapidly

As many as 36 states across the U.S. reported widespread influenza activity in December, but epidemiologists say it is too soon to say how bad the flu season will be this year.

The early start of the outbreaks, which usually see a peak in February, is attributed to the low efficacy of the vaccine and possibly the cold temperatures gripping much of the country.

flu map

 (CDC)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the strain H3N2 is responsible for the majority of the deadliest cases reported this season. 

 

"It's just one of those years where the CDC is seeing that this strain of flu is only somewhat covered by the vaccine that was given this year," said Jennifer Radtke, manager for infection prevention at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, as quoted by USA Today.

"They're seeing that it's anywhere from 10 percent to 33 percent effective, so any time there’s a mismatch between the vaccine and the circulating strain of the flu, you’re going to see more cases."

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote arirish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2018 at 8:36am
Get ready, some medical experts are predicting the worst flu season in history



    Medical experts are bracing for one of the worst flu seasons in history.

    The main flu strain for 2017-18 is known as the H3N2 virus, and it is more deadly than the swine flu.

    The flu is now widespread in about 46 states, reports the CDC.

    The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and other organizations are calling for the development of a universal vaccine.



Medical experts in the United States are worried that this year's flu season could be a nasty one that may be lethal. That's because this year's main flu strain, the influenza A virus, known as H3N2, is worse than the swine flu in 2009. To put it in perspective, back when the swine flu was making headlines it infected just 51,000 people in Australia. This year's H3N2 sickened over 215,000 and the illness has hit our shores. It's a situation that has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to do a collaborative study with global health partners in an effort to make addressing the situation a global priority.

Reported cases in some states, like Arizona, are up more than 758 percent over this time last year, and the CDC reports the flu is in widespread conditions in 46 states, including California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Virginia, as of Dec. 30, 2017. To make matters worse, the flu vaccine is not proving to be very effective against this year's main strain, because of a virus mutation. In Australia it has been effective in only 10 percent of cases, reports The New England Journal of Medicine. The vaccine now being administered to Americans uses the same formulation.

With news mounting of this season's flu being a particularly virulent one — evidenced by overcrowded emergency rooms and an uptick in related deaths across the country — it's eerily ironic that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1918 global influenza pandemic. Also known as the Spanish flu, the worldwide outbreak infected an estimated 500 million people, nearly a third of the planet's population then, and killed between 50 million and 100 million victims. More than 25 percent of the U.S. population was sickened, and about 675,000 Americans died.

While no public health officials are declaring the current flu to be a pandemic, this strain is historically more difficult to fight than others. Australia, for instance, just came through its flu season, reporting record-high numbers of cases of the same H3N2 virus and higher-than-average numbers of hospitalizations and deaths.

The United States is experiencing a similarly "early and robust start to this flu season," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. "It has all the markings of being a severe season."



A string of bad flu seasons has Dr. Fauci and other medical experts calling for the development of a universal influenza vaccine that would save lives. Each year, on average, 5 percent to 20 percent of the U.S. population contracts the flu, tens of thousands are hospitalized, and between 3,000 and 49,000 Americans die from flu-related illness, according to the CDC. The flu strikes indiscriminately, but young children, the elderly and the chronically ill are most vulnerable.

Caring for the sick is costly. The CDC estimates that the flu costs the United States $10.4 billion a year in direct medical expenses and another $16.3 billion in lost earnings annually. A chunk of those billions is spent formulating, growing and distributing millions of doses of the annual flu vaccine, which from year to year reduces the risk of illness by 40 percent to 60 percent at best. The flu vaccine is the only one that has to be reformulated and administered every year. Most of the vaccine is grown in eggs, an arduous process that takes around six months.

See :https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/09/medical-experts-predict-worst-flu-season-in-history.html for entire article
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2018 at 3:55pm
Thank you all for posting on this thread. I won't go into this - but the current administration is doing very little to address our flu epidemic across the United States.

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2018/01/experts-decry-lack-flu-pandemic-readiness-commitment

As you may, or may not know, I was in contact with Michael Osterholm during the 2009 Pandemic and he was also saying "not if but when" before it happened. He is the director of CIDRAP and is as concerned as I am about the current situation.

This is an excerpt from a very good article put out today.

Armed with 1940s-vintage flu vaccine technology and supported by only anemic funding for developing truly revolutionary vaccines, the world is woefully unprepared for the next influenza pandemic, and the Trump administration is ignoring the problem, two experts wrote in a New York Times op-ed piece yesterday.

"There is no apparent effort to make [next-generation flu] vaccines a priority in the current administration. Its national security strategy published last month cites Ebola and SARS as potential bioterrorism and pandemic threats, yet makes no mention of the risk of pandemic influenza nor any aspect of critical vaccine research and development," write infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, and his book coauthor Mark Olshaker.

Osterholm is director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), which publishes CIDRAP News. He and Olshaker last year wrote Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, which details the most pressing public health threats and includes a nine-point action plan.

The urgency expressed in the commentary was echoed by other experts.

'Worst-case scenario'

In their op-ed piece, Osterholm and Olshaker point out that the infamous "Spanish flu" pandemic of 1918-19 killed 50 million to 100 million people worldwide—at a time when the globe held only a quarter of the population it now houses.

In addition, the current flu season demonstrates how disruptive even everyday seasonal flu can be.

"The next few weeks," the two write, "will highlight how ill prepared we are for even 'ordinary' flu. A worldwide influenza pandemic is literally the worst-case scenario in public health."

Amesh Adalja, MD, senior scholar with the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, concurs.

"The difficulties currently being experienced in handling a predictable rougher-than-usual flu season should be a wake-up call to all that we will be greatly underprepared for the infectious disease emergencies we are certain to face in the years ahead," he told CIDRAP News.


comment: The current administration in the U.S. is oblivious to a very serious flu season which could get a lot worse due to terrible cold weather and the present lack of a decent health care system. I was told by a source that CDC no longer requires deaths of those over 65 to be reported or counted in the CFR.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_fatality_rate

In fact, are they really counting that much?  I remember getting the Hong Kong Flu in 1967 when I was at San Jose State doing pre-med. I was young and had it for 2 months and it nearly killed me. I kept thinking every day - when will it go away. Well, this bug - is the same bug only much nastier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_flu_pandemic

The Hong Kong flu was the first known outbreak of the H3N2 strain, though there is serologic evidence of H3N1 infections in the late 19th century. The virus was isolated in Queen Mary Hospital.

In the 1968 pandemic vaccine became available one month after the outbreaks peaked in the US.

Both the H2N2 and H3N2 pandemic flu strains contained genes from avian influenza viruses. The new subtypes arose in pigs coinfected with avian and human viruses and were soon transferred to humans.

comment: We only really here about these kind of things when famous people start dying from them. Nasty cold is still coming in waves and the weather is bad in many parts of the U.S. This will effect the spread of this flu. I am sure of it.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CRS, DrPH Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2018 at 8:11pm
Both the H2N2 and H3N2 pandemic flu strains contained genes from avian influenza viruses. The new subtypes arose in pigs coinfected with avian and human viruses and were soon transferred to humans. 

Ahhh....the lovely swine virus machine in action!!   Wait until that kicks in over in China! 

Filthy things, too bad I enjoy eating them so much! 
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I think you might see a rapid rise of cases when your weather warms up.....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 11 2018 at 5:26pm
I have it and most of my family have it. Our neighborhood is like a tomb. No one is out in the streets and most of those I talked to our sick.

Across the United States, Americans are coming down with potentially deadly strains of the flu this year, with at least twelve children who have already died after contracting the flu this season. According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control And Prevention, "influenza activity" is increasing across the southern half of the US, with the deadliest, most dangerous cases attributed to the H3N2 strain. As the flu is a viral infection, antibiotic drugs are completely useless against it, and antiviral drugs only serve to make symptoms potentially milder or shorter. The CDC estimates about 5 million flu cases are prevented annually by receiving a flu-shot. Wochit

It is so serious, deaths have already occurred in some states this flu season:

  • In California, at least 11 people younger than 65 have died, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The state does not track flu-related deaths among those 65 and older.
  • In North Carolina, 12 people, including a child, have died.
  • In South Carolina, seven have died. All were age 65 or older.

comment:

The media still continues to report garbage which is completely irrelevant to my life or well being. I don't care who won what award, who molested who or is being sued or killed their baby in whatever gruesome fashion. They could delete all the news stories on Fox and CNN and it would not affect anyone.

It's still too early to say whether this winter will be a bad season for the flu, but epidemiologists in 36 states already have reported widespread influenza activity to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in data released Dec. 29.

Medclinician - I have it and many of my family do. This flu is worse than anyone I have had since 2009.




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Technophobe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 12 2018 at 5:52am
I wpuld say it was here already.

Luckily (for most) this flu is not a killer overall.  Sadly, a few people die from flu-related illness every year.  So far this year, the figures show a huge number of cases (and rapidly rising!), but the number of flu deaths is not out of the ordinary. 

Every death is a tragedy.  Every death destroys a family.  But, although it would be great to have no flu deaths, every year has a few and this year is not at all exceptional in fatality numbers.

Even if it were a big killer, my advice would be the same: "Get the jab and get the best vaccine combo you can afford, avoid crowds where possible and kids like the plague, practice rigid hygene, get fit and eat a healthy diet."  Your blood would not feature in the remedy.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 12 2018 at 10:56am
Damn. Let me know where you plan to live next so I can avoid it, Med. You always seem to find the places worst hit by the flu.

We've had some sick calls at work, but it's not too bad right now. There have unfortunately been more deaths than this time last year, and the ERs and urgent cares are swamped - which is to be expected with such a bad outbreak - but other than that, it's pretty much business as usual in my neck of the woods. I have noticed a lot more people with coughs though, and I have a scratchy throat that won't go away.

I'm sure it will get worse before it gets better, but my focus is still on China and H7N9. I understand the need for vigilance as novel viruses don't usually give us much warning, but I don't prep for bad flu seasons.




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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Technophobe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 12 2018 at 12:59pm
Wait for me, JD!  I have a family too.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote arirish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 12 2018 at 6:56pm
JD said - "I'm sure it will get worse before it gets better, but my focus is still on China and H7N9."

Couldn't agree more JD! This is bad! Real bad! But what people need to understand is that a pandemic will be 100 times worse! Not thousands sick a week but hundreds of thousands sick, not hundreds of deaths a week but thousands of deaths! This is like the Herpes epidemic before HIV! Just a warm up!

Hold your breathe this spring and summer!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 12 2018 at 9:57pm
https://flunewseurope.org/ and http://www.euromomo.eu/

  • EuroMOMO data showed excess mortality in the elderly (>65 years of age) for the United-Kingdom (Scotland), Spain and Portugal.
  • From sentinel sources, a higher proportion of type B viruses compared to type A viruses has been detected. Of the type A detections, A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses have outnumbered A(H3N2) viruses.
  • While low in number, 64% of the genetically characterized A(H3N2) viruses belonged to clade 3C.2a, the vaccine virus clade as described in the WHO recommendations for vaccine composition for the northern hemisphere 2017–18, and 36% to clade 3C.2a1, with viruses in both clades being antigenically similar.
  • Aearly risk assessment based on data from EU/EEA countries was published by ECDC on 20 December 2017. First detections indicated circulation of A(H3N2) and B/Yamagata viruses in the highest proportions. As the A(H3N2) subtype dominated last season, a high proportion of the population should be protected.

Other news

  • The US CDC published a Health Alert Network (HAN) notice, regarding increased A(H3N2) activity that affects mostly people aged over 65 and younger children, leading to more hospitalizations and deaths. Based on the moderate vaccine effectiveness, detailed information on recommended antiviral treatment is provided. See full report here.
  • Additional information on global influenza activity is available from WHO’s biweekly global updates.
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https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-13/alabama-declares-state-emergency-over-flu-epidemic-death-toll-rises

According to the CDC, this is the worst outbreak in their 13 years of tracking influenza.

The reason this year’s flu season is more severe than usual is because it involves the dreaded H3N2, a strain of the influenza A virus that causes more health complications and is more difficult to prevent.

H3N2 hits people harder than other seasonal flu strains and can be especially deadly among vulnerable groups like the elderly and children. Researchers still aren’t sure why, but they’ve found that a flu season involving the H3 virus is generally nastier — with more hospitalizations and flu-related deaths — than seasons involving mostly H1N1 or influenza B viruses.

This year, more than 80 percent of flu cases involve H3N2 strain. And the CDC’s Jernigan reported that there were 22.7 hospitalizations related to flu per 100,000 population during the week of December 31, 2017, to January 6, 2018. That’s a doubling from 13.7 the week before. “We’re seeing a rapid rise in the number of people being hospitalized,” Jernigan said. (source)

But it isn’t just Alabama.

The flu epidemic is spreading across the US.

18 people have died in Dallas, Texas from the flu, 4 in Tennessee, and 27 have died in California. Hospital waiting rooms are jammed with flu victims, the doctors are running out of medication, ambulance services are strained and even IV bags are in short supply. Influenza is impacting 46 states.

In total, the flu has killed 85 adults and 20 children in the United States and last week, the CDC reported that the hospitalization rate for people with the flu DOUBLED.

Here’s the CDC’s map of the flu’s spread throughout the US as of the last day of 2017.

 

https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/20180113_AL1.png

As mentioned above, 80% of the cases in the US are H3N2. As usual, although this year’s flu vaccination does NOT protect against the H3N2 strain, “experts” are still urging everyone to get a shot anyone. (Despite the fact that some numbers say it is only 10% effective.)

One hundred years after the Spanish flu pandemic, could we be facing another deadly global outbreak?


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 13 2018 at 7:47pm
Originally posted by jacksdad jacksdad wrote:

Damn. Let me know where you plan to live next so I can avoid it, Med. You always seem to find the places worst hit by the flu.

We've had some sick calls at work, but it's not too bad right now. There have unfortunately been more deaths than this time last year, and the ERs and urgent cares are swamped - which is to be expected with such a bad outbreak - but other than that, it's pretty much business as usual in my neck of the woods. I have noticed a lot more people with coughs though, and I have a scratchy throat that won't go away.

I'm sure it will get worse before it gets better, but my focus is still on China and H7N9. I understand the need for vigilance as novel viruses don't usually give us much warning, but I don't prep for bad flu seasons.





Well Jacksdad - I am not sure where to move now ...


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 13 2018 at 10:35pm
I believe it's now widespread enough to officially be called an epidemic, but we're fortunate enough not to be seeing anything like you mentioned. Sounds pretty bad. Streets certainly don't seem to be any less crowded here, and I'm not hearing of too many new cases among friends and family. Hospitals are still overwhelmed as far as I'm aware though.

Of course, without the benefit of hindsight we have no way of knowing if this is everything H3N2 can muster, or just the first wave.

How are you and your family doing?




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http://www.thebigwobble.org/2018/01/100-years-ago-spanish-flu-infected-500.html Australian flu A-H3N2 becoming deadly in the UK. 

Worldwide the picture is mixed although A-H3N2 seems to be widespread (and could become a pandemic). A-H1N1 and B-virus is also widespread. 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Penham Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 14 2018 at 12:12pm
I live in Oklahoma and so far have had one adult friend that has had the flu she was older 55, one client with the flu which was a kid, but co-workers several have had kids sick with the flu. I went to get a routine pap/well woman check the other day and walked in to the waiting room and there were 6 people with masks on. My anxiety level went up immediately, I could tell at least 2 were really sick, the others may have been trying not to get sick?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 15 2018 at 9:51am
http://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/news/u-s-national-news/1918-medical-experts-the-worst-flu-season-in-history

Medical experts in the United States are worried that this year's flu season could be the worst in US History as 46 states already report Flu outbreaks. This year's main flu strain, the influenza A virus, known as H3N2, is worse than the swine flu in 2009. 
-

To put it in perspective, back when the swine flu was making headlines it infected just 51,000 people in Australia. This year's H3N2 sickened over 215,000 and the illness has hit our shores. 

Reported cases in some states, like Arizona, are up more than 758 percent over this time last year, and the CDC reports the flu is in widespread conditions in 46 states, including California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Virginia, as of Dec. 30, 2017. To make matters worse, the flu vaccine is not proving to be very effective against this year's main strain, because of a virus mutation. In Australia it has been effective in only 10 percent of cases, reports The New England Journal of Medicine. The vaccine now being administered to Americans uses the same formulation.

-

With news mounting of this season's flu being a particularly virulent one — evidenced by overcrowded emergency rooms and an uptick in related deaths across the country — it's eerily ironic that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1918 global influenza pandemic. Also known as the Spanish flu, the worldwide outbreak infected an estimated 500 million people, nearly a third of the planet's population then, and killed between 50 million and 100 million victims. More than 25 percent of the U.S. population was sickened, and about 675,000 Americans died. 

While no public health officials are declaring the current flu to be a pandemic, this strain is historically more difficult to fight than others. Australia, for instance, just came through its flu season, reporting record-high numbers of cases of the same H3N2 virus and higher-than-average numbers of hospitalizations and deaths.

The United States is experiencing a similarly "early and robust start to this flu season," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. "It has all the markings of being a severe season."

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Satori Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 16 2018 at 11:27pm

This flu epidemic did something never recorded before

https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/15/stories-from-a-nation-full-of-flu-sufferers/


why I often find it difficult to  impossible to believe anything the CDC says on anything

"And according to USA Today, the CDC estimates that influenza has caused 9 million to 35 million illnesses, 140,000 to 710,000 hospitalizations and 12,000 to 56,000 deaths in the United States each year since 2010. In many cases, hospitalizations and deaths do not show up in official reports, for a variety of reasons — including the fact that most people with flu are never tested for it and that states are not required to report adult flu deaths."


which is it?

9 million or 35 million?

140 thousand or 700 thousand ?


essentially USELESS statistics

inexcusable

get your act together

“The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.” Gary Kasparov
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 17 2018 at 12:23am
Satori,

When more than 35 million people in one year in the US get the flu, more than 710.000 people end up in hospital, more than 56.000 people die-it is an above "normal" flu season. Statistics give big variations. 

With statistics you can follow large scale developments-go beyond individual stories. 

To get a first picture of any problems you need statistics to get priorities. And-yes-statistics can give a wrong picture, statistics can be misused. Flu-mixing with pneunomia may give double counting.
(To make things even more complicated-is there a link between climate change and active flu-seasons ? Or is the connection more age-related-you need statistics-to see what age-group is effected, set up vaccination campains to maybe even close schools for a week.)

But basicly-statistics like those you mention are essential to get an oversight of the problem!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 20 2018 at 6:39am
The flu is now everywhere in the U.S. and widespread. Children are dying as well as adults. Those who die and are over 65 are not even reported.

The geographic spread of influenza in Puerto Rico and 49 states was reported as widespread; Guam reported regional activity; the District of Columbia and one state reported local activity; and the U.S. Virgin Islands reported sporadic activity.

The H3N2 virus strain, which is known to cause more hospitalizations and more deaths, is the dominant strain this season so far, Brammer said.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 27 2018 at 5:35am
Flu is widespread in the U.S. and people are dying. Some of these are young and die within days or a week of getting. Hundreds dying in one county alone in California, and I still can't get rid of it.





http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/01/27/flu-takes-alabama-bride-to-be-one-week-after-diagnosis.html

A bride-to-be in Alabama was among the latest casualties this week as a serious outbreak of influenza continued to sweep across the U.S.

Katherine Acton, 47, of Shelby County, succumbed to the flu Wednesday, only a week after being diagnosed. She left behind two kids and a fiancé, Chuck Benzil, whom she planned to marry in the fall, the New York Post reported.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that in this particularly deadly flu season, as many as 56,000 adults and children could die if proper safety precautions are not taken. 

comment: The vaccine has proven to be very ineffective against the mutated h3n2 strain which is the predominant one for this season in the U.S. I still could go Pandemic - if it further mutates and spreads. It is in Europe and U.K. with very little in media about it.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote PrepGirl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 27 2018 at 7:14am
I am currently sick myself. Started out a mild cough. Two days ago. Today I'm coughing alot. No fever no chills. Just a nasty cough.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Technophobe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 27 2018 at 11:36am
Here's hoping it's a false alarm.  Get well soon, Prepgirl.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Satori Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 27 2018 at 1:51pm
CrAzEeeee talk ???

The Flu Is FAR WORSE Than We’re Being Told: Tens of Thousands of Americans Are DYING

https://www.theorganicprepper.com/flu-worse-dying/


the author of this article puts the real death toll at over 44,000

and is very critical of the CDC for being less than honest


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Thank you
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote EdwinSm, Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 27 2018 at 10:38pm
A big spike in P&I Mortality, but still seems less than 2015.  But this a report of the situation about 20 days ago (so is a lagging indicator of what is happening),

I do like the way this report from CDC gives a number of years for comparison.  It is too easy to take the current figures out of context and so I think CDC has done well in this case. 

INFLUENZA Virus Isolated
http://https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

Ps. Does anyone know why the seasonal curves are declining over time?  I guess this might be to changing causes of death. Possibly that might be due to people living longer, but as flu hits old folks hard I think there might be other causes.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 28 2018 at 12:57pm
My fiance, died today of the flu in New York.  She began having breathing problems and in less than an hour in ER she was gone.

Things are a lot worse than we are being told. The last loved one I lost, also a lady I was with, died during the Pandemic in Chicago.

Having spent a lot of time talking to a nurse in Wisconsin some years ago, she told me that they just have no plan to treat people with the flu.  In addition, they have stopped reporting deaths in most cases, and with all people over 65.

My fiance was a tough woman and Native American and had fought off many illnesses here whole life. This one got her.

I have been down with it and the irony is - they are not aggressively responding to this nor are we being told the truth.

I ask for your prayers - I don't know how I will make it without her - I loved her so much.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Technophobe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 28 2018 at 1:31pm
Beyond words, Med.  My prayers are with you.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jacksdad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 28 2018 at 7:25pm
I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say how sorry I am to hear of your fiancée's passing, Med. Our thoughts are with you and her family.

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I am so so sorry Med. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Medclinician Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 29 2018 at 3:42am
Thank you - there are simply no words. If I did not hate the flu and wish they would do something more before  - I do now.  The media is beginning to wake up and although the numbers do not reflect the reality - where it was 8% during the Pandemic of people coming in with flu symptoms - it is 6% now. This tells more of the real story.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 29 2018 at 7:11pm
Med, I am so sorry. I can tell you that the pain never totally goes away but it does get better.

When you can talk about it did this wonderful lady have a flu shot, did she get Tamiflu, it is so sad. I am wondering if any of this helped or not. What is killing people so fast? I still wonder if it is a cytokine storm that is killing so fast!

Keep us posted Med as to how you are feeling we are all here for you.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ME163 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 31 2018 at 4:22am
It has been awhile since we have been on AFT/AFN . Just to let you know. My cousin is fighting on life support. She has the flu . Her body has shut down. She had the flu and then it change to pneuomia and sepis I don't know what to say about this one guys . She is in her middle 60's If this stuff is killing in middle America, we have a real big problem on our hands
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Technophobe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 31 2018 at 5:53am
Hmmm,  I may have been wrong.

AFT lists just over 6000 members, probably about a thousand of those are spammers, people who no longer posrt, new logons for those who lost their passwords and several hundred are aliases for Rishat.  That gives an active membership of about 5k who, if you add up their family members, friends and colleagues gives us a reporting base of about 10 X that.

More people in that sample seem to be seriously/fatally ill than national statistics suggest.

Our own dear Medclinician, who I always accuse of overraction ('Sorry Med!), points out that things are worse than we are being told.  This time, I believe him.  I think he is absolutely right.

The number of people covered by our membership is sufficient for a full clinical sample for statistical analysis.  Our results indicate about 10 X the CFR* publically admitted to.

Someone is lying.



I hope your cousin makes a full recovery, MEi63


*CFR = case fatality rate.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Satori Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 31 2018 at 3:14pm
some years ago I was reading an interview with someone who was a high ranking official in the European Union
he said something that has always stuck with me

"it's not the governments job to tell the truth,it's their job to keep people from panicking"
“The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.” Gary Kasparov
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dutch Josh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 31 2018 at 11:15pm
https://flunewseurope.org/ The B-line flu-virus is most widespread flu-virus in Europe. 
In week 3-2018 http://www.euromomo.eu/ mortality is above statistic baseline in SW Europe and Scotland. 

For the Netherlands (in Dutch) https://www.nivel.nl/nl/NZR/wekelijkse-surveillance-gezondheidsproblemen we are in week 7 of a flu-epedemic. With 165 cases of Influenza Like Illnesses per 100.000 in week 4 we are above the peak-numbers of last 3 seasons-and the flu keeps spreading further.

DJ-So far most effected are children-but by now their teachers falling ill as well-some temporarely schoolclosures reported. The A-H3N2 flu-virus now causing mass illness in the US may have been active here last year (then went to Australia-to move on to the US-maybe with some changes-enough to cause a lot of flu in the US, not enough to get widespread-again-so far-in Europe).

https://www.nivel.nl/en/news/important-changes-timing-influenza-epidemics-western-and-eastern-europe Flu shows up a little earlier in Eastern Europe, a little later in Western Europe-just a matter of days but may be important for vaccination. The cause of a growing spread in time may be due to climatechange. 

The flu was limited in western Europe till half of january-parts of Western Europe did not have winter. Although weather is only one of many factors the extreme US winter this season could explain-partly-the spread of flu in the US.
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Originally posted by FluMom FluMom wrote:

Med, I am so sorry. I can tell you that the pain never totally goes away but it does get better.

When you can talk about it did this wonderful lady have a flu shot, did she get Tamiflu, it is so sad. I am wondering if any of this helped or not. What is killing people so fast? I still wonder if it is a cytokine storm that is killing so fast!

Keep us posted Med as to how you are feeling we are all here for you.


Thank you FluMom. Yet, she did have her flu shot and always, each year was vaccinated. Yet, this year the Flu shot was nearly worthless. I lost a woman in 2009 to the flu in Chicago as the CDC continued to lie to the people how bad it was and now I have lost another one.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/flu-vaccine-1.4515141

The effectiveness of this season's flu shot has been extremely low, with the vaccine preventing only 10 to 20 per cent of infections caused by the dominant H3N2 strain affecting Canadians, researchers have found.

The mid-season estimate for the vaccine's ability to provide protection from this particular influenza strain is in line with what Australia experienced during the southern hemisphere's flu season, which ended in late August as Canada's was about to begin.

"That means people who were vaccinated should not consider themselves invincible for this season," said lead researcher Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an infectious diseases expert at the BC Centre for Disease Control.

comment: No one considers themselves invincible - one can often take CDC statements in the worst case scenario - and it is likely is was not effective at all. They totally missed the strain of H3N2. My lady's family in New York were all vaccinated and all of them caught it.

They treated her with huge doses of antibiotics which was a total mistake. It wiped out the flora in her stomach and she was ravaged by a swarm of bacteria which no doubt played a large factor in killing her.

She could not breathe as it hit her lungs and within one hour she was gone.

I have been fighting this for almost a month and have spoken to Dr. John Ray and this flu is deadly. I cannot even reach Dr. John - so please contact me and tell me you are okay.

The entire vaccine industry has become a joke.  It is all about money and our medical response to widespread flu all over the U.S. is a real illustration that if we get hit with any sort of bio-terrorism attack - we are very vulnerable and our entire infrastructure of dealing with disease is not helpful to anyone with the flu.

I am still mourning the death of a woman I was about to marry and will never forgive the New York Medical system whose ineffective care and treatment of her was more lethal to her than even the flu itself.

Medclinician





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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote arirish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 02 2018 at 11:00pm
Med- My very sincerest condolences! I too lost someone in 2009! It's what led me here! Between my wife and I we have three acquaintances that have passed in the last 30 days, only one was over 65! I've read several news articles in the last few days of people testing negative and being sent home only to die days later from organ failure! Is there something wrong with the test? Has it mutated to the point the test is worthless? As Flumom asked, is it causing cytokine storms or is it creating secondary infections which turn sepsis? Too many questions never enough answers!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote arirish Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 03 2018 at 12:11am
Good lord Rashat, please give it up! One of our members has lost a loved one! This is not about YOU! PLEASE! Go away!
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