US COVID-19 Death Toll Eclipses 1918 Spanish Flu Estimates
US COVID-19 Death Toll Eclipses 1918 Spanish Flu Estimates
US COVID-19 Death Toll, Eclipses 1918 Spanish Flu Estimates.
Over a century ago, the world was devastated by a pandemic widely considered , "the deadliest in human history.".
ABC News reports that an estimated 675,000 of those deaths occurred in the United States.
According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, at least 675,446 Americans have been confirmed to have died since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Experts suggest there are key differences between both pandemics that must be taken into account.
These are two different viruses, two different times in history, at two different times of medical history, with what you have available to combat or treat it, Howard Markel, Professor of the history of medicine at the University of Michigan, ABC News.
The U.S. currently has a coronavirus case fatality rate of 1.6%, compared to the 2.5% fatality rate for influenza in 1918.
The U.S. currently has a coronavirus case fatality rate of 1.6%, compared to the 2.5% fatality rate for influenza in 1918.
The difference is that 1 in 500 Americans have died now, and about 1 in 152 died in 1918, although our number keeps going up, Christopher McKnight Nichols, associate professor of history at Oregon State University, ABC News.
The difference is that 1 in 500 Americans have died now, and about 1 in 152 died in 1918, although our number keeps going up, Christopher McKnight Nichols, associate professor of history at Oregon State University, ABC News.
We have effective vaccines now, and so what strikes me in the comparison, if you think about this milestone, this tragedy of deaths, is that same number but we have a really effective treatment, the thing that they most wanted in 1918 and '19, we've got.
And for a lot of different reasons, we botched the response, Christopher McKnight Nichols, associate professor of history at Oregon State University, ABC News.
We have effective vaccines now, and so what strikes me in the comparison, if you think about this milestone, this tragedy of deaths, is that same number but we have a really effective treatment, the thing that they most wanted in 1918 and '19, we've got.
And for a lot of different reasons, we botched the response, Christopher McKnight Nichols, associate professor of history at Oregon State University, ABC News.
A disproportionate number of those who succumbed to the flu in 1918 were in the 18- to 45-year-old age group.
The coronavirus pandemic has most affected those over the age of 65, who make up 78.7% of virus-related deaths