Unbiased Report on 2017-2018 Flu Season

Flu and flu-related deaths have increased dramatically in the first weeks of the year, reaching over 10 percent of the total mortality for the US. This is bad, but not uncommon for a bad flu year as ’14-15 surpassed this mark:

Important to also note is the decreasing baseline over the last five seasons. Fewer people in general are dying from flu and pneumonia.

Children are dying from the flu this year but that is not abnormal as they are the second-most susceptible age group to elderly to die from the flu. However, the difference is dramatic. During this flu season, there have been 63 pediatric flu deaths. The vicious ’14-15 season saw 148 pediatric flu deaths:

This year is bad, but not superlative. Media tend to sensationalize everything—especially medical stories. They should be taken with a grain of salt.