80,000 Americans died of the Flu last year.

That's more Americans who died in the Vietnam War.

Shoot, that's also more Americans than did in the Korean War.

It's approximately 1/5th of the number of Americans who died last year from heart disease.

For that matter, it's about 1/5th of the number of Americans who have died from AIDS. . . total.*

It's about 2.5 times the number of people who died from "gun violence" of all types last year, although to be fair, there's no such thing as "gun violence" in the first place, only violence.    For that matter, it's probably actually more like 7 times the number of people who are murdered by people who use firearms to commit the murder, which is another figure yet.  That means that about 2/3s of those who are killed in which a firearms is involved are suicides.

That also means that its over 4 times the number of people who are murdered in the United States every year.

Did you know that?

Probably not.  It's simply not discussed much.  The Flu has no demographic that advances it as a public health crisis and there are no celebrities that associate themselves with it.

It just goes out and really kills, and only those who know the dead seem to care.


*Which means that the number of Americans who die each year from heart disease is roughly equal to the total number of people who have died from aids.

The Scary Flu Epidemic of 2018

I missed this when it occurred and just heard about it the other day in a meeting:

Today In Wyoming's History: January 5:

2018  Leslie Blythe, well know figure and spokesperson for Rocky Mountain Power fell victim to the terrible flu epidemic afflicting the nation.

I don't usually worry much about the annual influenza outbreaks, but this year's is truly scary.  I heard in the same meeting that there's been four deaths in the county, which would not be the norm at all, and lots of people have been hit.

So far, it's anything like the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, but it's scary enough, and its hard not to recall that horrible event of a century ago.  And there's a lot of flu season left to go.