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JLeslie's avatar

Have you seen any ongoing data comparing flu to COVID19?

Asked by JLeslie (65743points) March 25th, 2020 from iPhone

I have no argument that COVID-19 is scary and we need to take the measures being asked of us to slow, hopefully stop, the spread.

I was looking at the New York numbers a couple of days ago, over 20,000 and looked up the worst week of flu this past flu season in NY, and it was 17,000 (I’m rounding) week of February 8. Here’s the NY flu info https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/influenza/surveillance/2019-2020/archive/

What someone asked me was if the flu data is the amount of cases diagnosed in that week? Or, the number still sick cumulatively? It looks to me diagnosed that week. The COVID-19 number seems to be cumulative, and then it also reports cases resolved and how many have died, various numbers.

Is there any apples to apples graph to look at? Cases and hospitalizations and deaths. If not, anyone interested in helping me research it that would be great.

I realize there has already been measures to slow the rate of transmission of COVID-19 that are not done to anywhere near the extent of flu.

The hospitalization rate is a huge concern to me. I worry about our healthcare workers along with the patients.

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18 Answers

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

I was looking at this and found the numbers interesting.It is not a side by side comparison though.
Now this is more interesting to me. I’ve been reading about this drug for well over a week.

JLeslie's avatar

@lucillelucillelucille I have always been very reluctant to even consider going to countries where taking a malaria drug prophylactically is recommended. Those drugs make me nervous. If I was very sick from COVID19 I wouldn’t refuse the drug, but I wouldn’t be popping them right off the bat either.

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

@JLeslie -I understand that. I won’t take drugs for multiple sclerosis even though everyone I know takes them.I don’t get flu shots either.
I like to keep any meds to a bare minimum as a rule.aspirin included :)
As for this virus, it seems there are very good results with this drug.

JLeslie's avatar

@lucillelucillelucille I’m glad they are doing a study regarding the drug.

Dutchess_III's avatar

@lucillelucillelucille, please. That’s BREITBART. A known source of misinformation.

Now THAT was a dangerous thing to post. There are some truly stupid people out there.

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

@Dutchess_III – The interview was with Dr. Fauci. There are other sources and info regarding that drug
Yes, there are people out there who will do stupid things like drink bleach, etc. too.

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

@Dutchess_III -I do not care what news source you have a problem with or love, for that matter.
I find the stories on this drug interesting as I stated above. They are not limited to the source i listed.

Btw, your stories are a bit older than my link.

Dutchess_III's avatar

My sources are legitimate. Breitbart is not. They just made that up and it’s dangerous and irresponsible to pass that around, @lucillelucillelucille

“Breitbart News Network…is an American far-right syndicated news, opinion and commentary ......some of its content has been called misogynistic, xenophobic, and racist by liberals and many traditional conservatives alike. The site has published a number of… intentionally misleading stories. Source

Why anyone with a brain would use Breitbart as a legitimate source is beyond me.

Dutchess_III's avatar

From the AP ”Trump clung to his feeling that a malaria drug widely available could be the answer-in-waiting to an outbreak spreading around the nation, shutting down major parts of the economy, and posing the biggest challenge he has faced as president. Calmly and quietly, Fauci insisted that the science is not yet there to validate Trump’s hope. Source

It was TRUMP who proclaimed that stuff as great. It was his speech that lead that stupid man to kill himself, and his wife to be hospitalized.

But YOU gave it more weight @lucillelucillelucille, by carelessly posting a fake news report that Fauci endorsed it. He. Did. Not.

Response moderated (Personal Attack)
lucillelucillelucille's avatar

@Dutchess -Hydroxychloroquine is what’s known as an analog of chloroquine, meaning the two have similar structures but different chemical and biological properties. Not the same as the fish tank cleaner,btw.
My brother, who was a pharmacist, wondered why I am wasting my time with you.
He’s right.

Dutchess_III's avatar

Snopes is quoting an Associate Press article. Geez. Here is the original AP article.

Chloroquine does have medical uses…for malaria. Trump was irresponsible in falsely claiming it works on covid 19. And you were even more irresponsible in posting that fake news story about Fauci.
I have a feeling you didn’t tell you pharmacist brother both sides of the story or the whole story.

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

@Dutchess_III _That you post older links that are not current- like the one you just posted?
Everyone who has access to the internet can read and act on whatever they want.
I am not here to police others.
If you had taken the time to read my comments on it, you would have seen that I said I was interested in it, not advising anyone to do anything.
You have done this exact thing before. Not reading other’s comments and putting words/actions onto them. I am tired of that bullshit.
This leads me to believe one of two things. Either you are driven by some bizarre need to argue with people you don’t care for, to make yourself seem important or you are altering your mind with booze or drugs.

JLeslie's avatar

I saw Trump, I saw that entire press conference. He said a drug (I think it was the combinations of two drugs) had been approved for testing. He said he felt good about it, he felt very positive. He said they don’t know if it will work or not. He said more than once they don’t know if it will work or not. It might have been three times. I think partly why he repeated it was because he could tell by the reporters questions that they would twist his words. At the same moment Trump had Fauci clarify the drug looked promising, that they don’t know if it will work, that’s why they will study it.

Really, it was pretty clear it’s just being tested and not a for sure cure.

The media either is ignorant about how drug trials are approved and done, or the media purposefully edited what was said to suit their purposes.

If journalists were concerned the public didn’t understand they should have spent time educating the public about what it means to fast track this trial and more about these drugs and some of the negative side effects that can happen too.

Dutchess_III's avatar

It was irresponsible. I would bet those people that took that aquarium grade of chloroquine were trump supporters…and they trusted him. The were just stupid.
trump is irresponsible and careless. I have no doubt he uses Brietbart as a source too.

JLeslie's avatar

They were stupid. They also didn’t listen to the whole message but just a portion.

My SIL was giving her kid aspirin when he had a fever with viral infection. That was stupid. It’s in big letters on the warning if she didn’t already know about Reys syndrome. I don’t know how any adult doesn’t know.

People take two pills instead of one, because they’re used to taking two. People take Motrin and Advil and get a huge dose of the same drug.

People drink alcohol and take Tylenol together and destroy their liver. Doesn’t everyone know not to do that? Nope. They think of Tylenol as the same as ibuprofen, alleve, aspirin, they think of all of those as the same.

They don’t read dosage or warning labels.

People do all sorts of ridiculousness and harm themselves. Some people still think they should sweat out a high fever. Some people think all antibiotics are penicillin.

Trump does so many horrible things, but dwelling on this is a waste of time. The drug is in testing. We’ll see if it works. I worry it got pushed to the head of the line because there are friends in high places. I hope not.

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