Statistics are interesting to me:
At least 12,000 people have died from influenza between Oct. 1, 2019 through Feb. 1, 2020, and the number of deaths may be as high as 30,000.
Alcohol consumption is responsible for one in 20 deaths globally each year, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report released Friday. Worldwide, harmful use of alcohol kills up to 3 million people annually, accounting for 5% of the global disease burden.
Tobacco kills up to half of its users. Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year. More than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.
The 1918 Spanish flu infected 500 million people around the world, or about 27% of the then world population of between 1.8 and 1.9 billion, including people on isolated Pacific islands and in the Arctic. The death toll is estimated to have been anywhere from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, (675,000 Americans) it was one of the deadliest epidemics in human history.
The viral infection was no more aggressive than previous influenza strains. Instead, malnourishment, overcrowded medical camps and hospitals, and poor hygiene promoted bacterial superinfection.
More U.S. soldiers died from the 1918 flu than were killed in battle during WWI.
Unlike today, there were no effective vaccines or antivirals, drugs that treat the flu.