Health Sentinel
Written by Roman Bystrianyk
Tuesday, 03 November 2009 12:30
It’s cold and flu season and the news is filled with just how deadly influenza can be. A figure that is frequently repeated in most news outlets when talking about the flu is that 36,000 people die each year from the flu.
Fox News
“H1N1 has been getting top line publicity and it’s important to know that seasonal flu takes a toll year in and year out,” Sebelius said. “But each year, 36,000 Americans die from the seasonal flu.”
New York Times
“… seasonal flu, which kills about 36,000 people annually.”
Wall Street Journal
“The seasonal flu sends an average of 200,000 Americans to the hospital each year, and 36,000 of them die, according to the CDC”
Orlando Sentinel
“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5 percent to 20 percent of the U.S. population is infected with seasonal flu each year… about 36,000 people die — mostly elderly.”
All these news reports leave the reader with a very specific and definitive figure of 36,000 people dying each year directly from the flu. But where did this figure come from? Most people would probably assume that careful statistics are kept to arrive at this figure. However, this 36,000 number that is repeated so authoritatively is actually based on a single study published in 2003. A mathematical model was applied to estimate flu-related deaths by using death certificates where the cause of death was listed as respiratory or circulatory disease.