As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations creep up during a summer wave of heightened virus activity, updated vaccines are still likely weeks away.
Why it matters:
- Americans have largely tuned out COVID, but the latest COVID uptick is a reminder that the virus continues to circulate and mutate — though the threat is far below pandemic-era levels.
- Health officials face a challenge convincing a pandemic-fatigued public to get an updated COVID shot, as vaccine uptake has declined with each successive booster.
The flu absolutely kills healthy, young individuals.
I personally know an otherwise healthy 18 year old who died of the flu.
Edit: mine is a completely factual statement. I’m not sure what the issue is, but a later comment is making me think I should tell people to Google “long flu”.
Some viruses are not so bad. Both COVID and the flu are bad. Hopefully, we can control this with something like a combined flu/COVID annual shot (and maybe we should start calling it that instead of a booster). Both are not the same as, e.g., smallpox where it’s kinda “one and done”.
OP said “disables” not “kills” so your comment doesn’t actually address OP’s comment. Long COVID is way more common than any after effects from the flu.
And you think that a disease that kills healthy young people doesn’t also disable them?
Both can kill, but only one has a rather high chance (some estimate 10-20%) of leaving you exhausted for months on end or worse - Physics Girl has been bedridden and at times hospitalized for the last year or so because of it.
See my edit earlier in the thread. “Long flu” is (of course) a thing. It’ll be different because there’re lots of differences between viruses (and, you know, everything)
I do love science populizers and physics girl is a wonderful populizer. I really hope that she’s able to recover.
You do know we can spot non-sequiturs, and that they make you look stupid, right? You did that because you don’t have an answer, so you just twisted their words in a weak attempt to mock them.
COVID causes long COVID. I’ve never heard of “long flu” because it doesn’t exist. As far as actual death goes, the flu killed 608 people in 2022. COVID killed OVER A QUARTER OF A MILLION in the same time period. Two hundred and sixty seven thousand of my countrymen. You fucking clown.
Are you fucking kidding me? Mock? Dude didn’t think the flu was dangerous. That’s (maybe almost) as dangerous as being a COVID vaccine denier and deserving of criticism.
Next, I want you to apologize for not googling “long flu” before making this comment. Do that and get back to me. Consider thinking before posting. Everything I’ve said is completely factual.
Now, no one is saying that COVID is not dangerous or that it killed millions, but the flu is also very dangerous. That’s why we get vaccinated for the flu every year and why we will (I think) have to do the same for COVID.
COVID killed so many because it was completely novel. When the flu was/is introduced to unexposed populations, it kills terribly. I can’t say more or less bad than COVID. Nearly everyone has now been exposed to flu, similar to COVID, and now we can’t do the “more or less dangerous” science in a simple statistical manner.
I’m not sure how else to end this except to say, huh?
Oh yeah, champ? Why don’t you quote for the class, to illustrate your point? Nobody said that, you said they said that. And you want an apology from me? Fucking lol. I’d give you basic reading comprehension skills instead, but such miracles are beyond my powers.
COVID wasn’t novel in 2022, and it still killed 267,000 people. Meanwhile you keep equating it to a virus that killed 608 in that time span. Bud, I don’t know how to explain that those zeroes on the end are important. More number mean bigger number. Bigger death == worse, yes? Yes.
You’re one of those dangerous cunts who knows how to speak with authority and spouts nothing but bollocks, like this:
That’s a load of wank if ever I’ve heard one; of course we can compare them. COVID is about 439 times deadlier than the flu, in addition to causing an increased rate of post-infection complications and illnesses compared to other respiratory illnesses.
If this is your best, it isn’t remotely good enough. Try putting some effort in.
Post viral syndrome is not unique to covid, and is typically minor and short lived
It is not short-lived or mild with COVID which is kind of the whole point here.