Will Flu Go Down?

[allenlondon]

Each year flu kills thousands in the UK. Will isolation reduce the incidence of flu and similar contagious disease?

[aelmpvw]

common sense dictates that there will be a reduction in all contagious diseases doesn't it?

[fiction-factory]

The isolation, and more importantly the shielding for the most vulnerable, particularly the elderly vulnerable, will help of course but another factor is that Covid19 will kill some before they get chance to catch flu.

[allenlondon]

Ok, so the ‘horrifying’ virus death toll has to be seen in the light of such reductions.

More science, less hysteria, is what we need!

[MartinMillar]

I don't see much hysteria just lots of common sense

[fiction-factory]

Most people would accept that given the way in which Covid19 spreads, the high death rates, the lack of tests and vaccines and medical expertise on treatments, the isolation policy is needed as a temporary measure to stem the tide and spread out he peaks, whereas a policy of isolation and shielding for months would be excessive as a means of reducing deaths due to flu.
So separate issue

[bhg481]

I think all sorts of statistics will change this year because of the major lifestyle changed being imposed - road deaths should decrease because fewer journeys are being made or maybe they will increase because the MoT holiday might result in more dangerous cars on the roads.

[allenlondon]

“I don't see much hysteria just lots of common sense”

Blimey, then you can’t have been watching the news on TV!

[fiction-factory]

Yes, some plusses and minuses. Suicides might increase . Maybe the increased amount of walking and jogging will help improve health overall.

[fiction-factory]

There was a hysterical woman on LBC last night saying this was all a Boris/Tory plot to make us subservient and take away all our liberties permanently, and the pandemic wouldn't have happened under Labour

[MartinMillar]

Yes I watch the news but I don't see the majority of its as hysterical.

[aelmpvw]

lol, i wasn't aware that boris/the tories ran the world ...

[Togo]

Found a few interesting stats comparing death rates up to March 13th(Week 11 2020)

""The provisional number of deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 13 March 2020 (week 11) was 11,019; this represents an increase of 124 deaths registered in comparison with the previous week (week 10). The average number of deaths for the corresponding week over the previous five years was 11,205.

The provisional number of deaths registered in England and Wales in February 2020 was 43,653; this represents a decrease of 13,053 deaths in comparison with the previous month and a decrease of 2,143 deaths in comparison with the same month in 2019.""

[allenlondon]

“ i wasn't aware that boris/the tories ran the world ... ”

They don’t. Big business runs THEM - and the world.

[NickorWan]

Big business has locked us all in our homes? The logic behind that escapes me.

[allenlondon]

Headlines 5 minutes ago on BBC News. “England’s deputy chief Medical Officer says it could be another six months before life returns to normal...”
The on-screen headline read “Six more months of restrictions”.

Both of which are distortions of what the woman actually said.

She said IF the public didn’t strictly follow government guidelines, then it COULD be another six months.

But all the intelligent ‘Qualifiers’, the conditional coulds, shoulds, etc, were lost. Maybe not hysteria, but irresponsible nonetheless.

[Togo]

//BBC News.//

As ever.....there is the problem. Trying to "make" the news instead of impartially reporting the facts.

[Gromit]

Flu kills the most vulnerable. If corona gets them first, then fatalities from regular flu will go down.

[allenlondon]

Togo. Those figures are amazing, revealing, and will never get on the news!

And I don't recall a headline back in 2019 saying, "Shock Horror - 40,000 people dead in February!" Wonder why not?

A

[Togo]

Ta Allen. Found this interesting graphic as well. It compares the death rates from respiratory deaths in Eng & Wales for the last 6 years.

https://thumbsnap.com/i/WRgSLlDC.jpg

[ichkeria]

The main hysteria I see is the claim that there’s a lot of hysteria :-)