Question for Pitdakota...

Not pit, but this might help you:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm

terrier,

Please don't hesitate to post a shout out to pitty on my thread. If she logs in tonight, she is sure to see it there.

You are always welcome .

Yes, there are times that public health departments do their best to track that information. The numbers you see for the years that they do track that information would then be on the low side because they don't necessarily test everyone that is in the hospital with a diagnosis of flu.

There are certain years that due to the strain of flu the CDC does want to track hospital admissions as close as possible. 2009 H1N1 is an example of that.

There have also been studies done by researchers that gives some information as well. For example, there is research that supports individuals with CHF and respiratory problems have fewer hospital admissions during flu months if they receive the flu vaccine.

They do track the deaths related to flu & pneumonia. And only deaths associated with pneumonia that is communicable are counted in that category.

We have a poster that consistently posts that anyone that dies of pneumonia is counted in that category. And that is not the case. If someone dies of aspiration pneumonia, they do not place that death in the flu/pneumonia category.

On 10/16/2014 dmod nj said:

terrier,

Please don't hesitate to post a shout out to pitty on my thread. If she logs in tonight, she is sure to see it there.

You are always welcome .

Thanks Donna!

On 10/16/2014 pitdakota said:

Yes, there are times that public health departments do their best to track that information. The numbers you see for the years that they do track that information would then be on the low side because they don't necessarily test everyone that is in the hospital with a diagnosis of flu.

There are certain years that due to the strain of flu the CDC does want to track hospital admissions as close as possible. 2009 H1N1 is an example of that.

There have also been studies done by researchers that gives some information as well. For example, there is research that supports individuals with CHF and respiratory problems have fewer hospital admissions during flu months if they receive the flu vaccine.

They do track the deaths related to flu & pneumonia. And only deaths associated with pneumonia that is communicable are counted in that category.

We have a poster that consistently posts that anyone that dies of pneumonia is counted in that category. And that is not the case. If someone dies of aspiration pneumonia, they do not place that death in the flu/pneumonia category.

Thank you!

Why do I bother.

On 10/16/2014 skuggles said:

Why do I bother.

Your link wasn't as detailed as pit's explanation...but thank you too!!!

I seem to recall in 2009 our schools shutdown for about a week. The band kids made it about 30 miles out of town on chartered buses to Disney World only to have the band director answer his cell phone and be told to turn around and come back. Luckily they were able to re-schedule. I told them, next time when they left . . . whatever you do . . . don't answer the phones until you are in the Orlando city limits almost 1,000 miles away from school! And wanna know what most kids did while out of school? Not mine of course. They all went to the mall. Great. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. A whole lotta good that did to shut down school for an entire week. One case. In a nearby school district 40+ miles away.

edited by me

Terrier, the reason that the actual figure for influenza deaths cannot ever be known is that not every patient who has influenza, or any other influenza-like illness (and there are a slew of other illnesses with similar symptoms, like enteroviruses, rhinoviruses, and para-influenza viruses to name a few), is given a laboratory test to confirm that what they suffer from is indeed influenza.

It would be like a doctor stating that because you have a fever with chills and malaise, and body aches, that you have influenza. No doctor is omniscient, however, so without a laboratory test result confirming the diagnosis of influenza, there is no way for any health department to know the exact diagnosis of a particular person, and no way for a death to be categorized properly, whether it is influenza or not. Without actual laboratory testing, the data for deaths due to influenza cannot be properly determined.

During the Swine Flu outbreak of 2009-2010, doctors were actually told to stop doing laboratory testing on patients with flu-like symptoms. I don't understand why proper testing was prohibited, especially during a widespread outbreak, as so much could have been learned from obtaining such data.