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Parent's comment will not cease to amaze me: We are going through a pandemic that has cost more lives in the US than the Spanish flu (absolute numbers) and ther

Parent's comment will not cease to amaze me: We are going through a pandemic that has cost more lives in the US than the Spanish flu (absolute numbers) and there are still folks running around proclaiming that > Remember - COVID is a mild disease for the vast majority. If you had told me in 2019 that we will experience something like it in our lifetime I would not have believed you.

native_samples 5y ago
COVID is in fact mild for the vast majority. That is a simple fact, and not one that can be dismissed with strange non-population adjusted comparisons. Actually nobody really knows how many people died from the Spanish flu, so I really wonder where you heard that idea. Wikipedia says: "Estimates of deaths range from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history." NB: The high estimates come from epidemiological modelling so should probably be ignored as such modelling has no legitimacy. But even for the USA alone, there's no agreement on how many died, especially as many people (especially in the USA) seem to have been killed by aspirin overdoses rather than the flu itself. At the time aspirin was new and considered a miracle cure. Doctors panicked prescribed doses that we now know are far, far too high. From a paper published in 2009: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002132346.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002132346.h... High aspirin dosing levels used to treat patients during the 1918-1919 pandemic are now known to cause, in some cases, toxicity and a dangerous build up of fluid in the lungs, which may have contributed to the incidence and severity of symptoms, bacterial infections, and mortality. Additionally, autopsy reports from 1918 are consistent with what we know today about the dangers of aspirin toxicity, as well as the expected viral causes of death. The motivation behind the improper use of aspirin is a cautionary tale, said author Karen Starko, MD. In 1918, physicians did not fully understand either the dosing or pharmacology of aspirin, yet they were willing to recommend it. Its use was promoted by the drug industry, endorsed by doctors wanting to “do something,” and accepted by families and institutions desperate for hope. “Understanding these natural forces is important when considering choices in the future,” Dr. Starko said. “Interventions cut both ways. Medicines can save and improve our lives. Yet we must be ever mindful of the importance of dose, of balancing benefits and risks, and of the limitations of our studies.”

native_samples 5y ago

COVID is in fact mild for the vast majority. That is a simple fact, and not one that can be dismissed with strange non-population adjusted comparisons. Actually nobody really knows how many people died from the Spanish flu, so I really wonder where you heard that idea. Wikipedia says: "Estimates of deaths range from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history." NB: The high estimates come from epidemiological modelling so should probably be ignored as such modelling has no legitimacy. But even for the USA alone, there's no agreement on how many died, especially as many people (especially in the USA) seem to have been killed by aspirin overdoses rather than the flu itself. At the time aspirin was new and considered a miracle cure. Doctors panicked prescribed doses that we now know are far, far too high. From a paper published in 2009: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002132346.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091002132346.h... High aspirin dosing levels used to treat patients during the 1918-1919 pandemic are now known to cause, in some cases, toxicity and a dangerous build up of fluid in the lungs, which may have contributed to the incidence and severity of symptoms, bacterial infections, and mortality. Additionally, autopsy reports from 1918 are consistent with what we know today about the dangers of aspirin toxicity, as well as the expected viral causes of death. The motivation behind the improper use of aspirin is a cautionary tale, said author Karen Starko, MD. In 1918, physicians did not fully understand either the dosing or pharmacology of aspirin, yet they were willing to recommend it. Its use was promoted by the drug industry, endorsed by doctors wanting to “do something,” and accepted by families and institutions desperate for hope. “Understanding these natural forces is important when considering choices in the future,” Dr. Starko said. “Interventions cut both ways. Medicines can save and improve our lives. Yet we must be ever mindful of the importance of dose, of balancing benefits and risks, and of the limitations of our studies.”