I have never gotten the flu shot. I feel like I can handle getting sick and maybe its even good for me and my immune system to be exposed and have to deal with sickness once in awhile. I have nothing to back that up with but I’ve only had the flu once in the last 10 years and I feel healthy enough to handle the illness.
Anyway, it was scary to hear how impactful the COVID-19 outbreak and resulting pandemic were. However, every time I heard a dire headline about another confirmed case I would take note. After it sunk in I remembered hearing how tens of thousands of people die in the US every year from the flu. Despite the urgent sounding warnings and the drastic measures being taken the numbers, even from China, were never really that alarming.
I decided to do some digging. I, like everyone else, have some extra time on my hands on the weekends. I spent a number of hours looking for data sources and reading reports from the World Health Organization, the CDC and even this kid’s website (I bought him 5 cups of coffee). My goal was to compare the numbers and see for myself if this is as bad or has the potential to be as bad as a typical flu season.
I’ll keep adding to this. I want to add a timeline because a normal flu season lasts from November through February. COVID-19 broke out in December of 2019. With a timeline I can see the ramp ups for comparison. I will also add in worldwide data, too. I have done the math and everything seems to be in line but I like to visualize things.
Here’s what I have so far:
