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
