# Do you know anyone that died due to the flu? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 12, 2022, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347 "2022-02-12T04:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/1 "2022-02-12T04:11:10Z")
Do you know anyone personally that died because of the flu or flu related complications? _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/1))_ I’m 59 and AFAIK, I don’t know anyone that died from the flu. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/2 "2022-02-12T04:28:54Z")
It looks like it’s in the region of 30,000 per year in the U.S. As a point of comparison, there are about 600,000 deaths from cancer. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/3 "2022-02-12T05:08:12Z")
Sunday will be the sixth anniversary of when my sister died from H1N1. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/4 "2022-02-12T06:34:43Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > It looks like it’s in the region of 30,000 per year in the U.S. Well, maybe sorta. Those are [estimated counts based on modeling](https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/how-cdc-estimates.htm) and as the CDC implies, those models should be taken with a grain or two of salt. For example death certificates often don’t get that specific about what caused the pneumonia that killed someone. Often it is the flu, but it could be other things. It is certainly some number of thousands, though. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/5 "2022-02-12T06:35:38Z")
The one person I have known personally who died directly from influenza was about 70 years old and had multiple risk factors, including an autoimmune disease for most of her adult life. She was a wonderful person and is very missed. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/6 "2022-02-12T13:48:16Z")
One of my best friends died from the flu a few years ago. He was only 45 at the time, granted, he was massively overweight (pushing 400lbs.). Quite sudden, too, we were going to see a movie on Monday, which he cancelled due to feeling unwell. On Thursday, I learned from his brother that he had died the previous evening. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/7 "2022-02-12T13:54:38Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > as the CDC implies, those models should be taken with a grain or two of salt… > > It is certainly some number of thousands, though. Sure, but they are the best estimates we have. You seem to be implying that if anything they must be _over_estimates. Isn’t it equally likely that the CDC estimates are too low? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/8 "2022-02-12T14:04:50Z")
I don’t think that anyone I know ever had the flu. In fact, I seem to mostly encounter it as a term for a really bad cold. Then again, I could be completely off-base… ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/9 "2022-02-12T14:10:05Z")
In the US it seems to get used interchangeably with the common cold a lot. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/10 "2022-02-12T14:10:12Z")
A co-worker died from flu complications. But that was back in the mid 90s ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/11 "2022-02-12T14:28:31Z")
A lot of cases where someone dies of the flu are cases where nobody asks what the cause of death was. When someone in their 80s dies, everyone just mentally chalks it up as “death by old age”. But old age, in itself, doesn’t kill. What “death by old age” usually means is that any of a variety of age-related ailments, or more likely a combination of them, has weakened someone to the point that something that’s usually survivable for a younger person ends up killing them. And while there are a lot of candidates for what that direct cause of death could be, respiratory diseases like the flu are certainly one possibility, and not a particularly rare one. This is one reason why I get annoyed when people describe covid as “just the flu”. The flu sucks, and if we had the opportunity to get rid of it, we should jump on that. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/12 "2022-02-12T15:34:00Z")
As a physician, I’ve seen far more than 3 people die from complications of the flu in over 40 years of taking care of patients. It’s hardly rare. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/13 "2022-02-12T15:43:52Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Sunday will be the sixth anniversary of when my sister died from H1N1. March 9th will be the sixth anniversary of when my mom died of influenza A and subsequent antibiotic resistant pneumonia. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/14 "2022-02-12T16:04:25Z")
No maybe about it. My mother died from influenza. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/15 "2022-02-12T16:29:56Z")
Many. But then I volunteer (or used to) in a care home, so my experience is not typical. However for stronger values of “know” my grandmother died of “complications of influenza”. She was 99. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/16 "2022-02-12T17:39:04Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Sure, but they are the best estimates we have. You seem to be implying that if anything they must be _over_ estimates. Isn’t it equally likely that the CDC estimates are too low? Possible, yes. It is going to vary from year to year. But generally the tendency [is to think it is an overestimate](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/comparing-covid-19-deaths-to-flu-deaths-is-like-comparing-apples-to-oranges/). You can contrast that with COVID-19, where the mortality rates are very likely an underestimate, especially earlier on. And that puts into perspective just how devastating COVID has been. But this is not to minimize the flu. I’ve had the real thing as an adult and it was an awful experience. I get vaccinated every year like clockwork. And I DO know somebody who died from it. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter from an epidemiological standpoint whether it kills 15,000 or 25,000 in a given year. It’s still dangerous. It’s just somewhat likely that the traditional CDC counts are overestimates to some varying degree. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/17 "2022-02-12T17:44:10Z")
Not the flu, but a friend of mine died of the common cold just a month or so ago. The virus caused an immune reaction, and his body attacked his own brainstem. He was only in his early thirties, and otherwise healthy. He was even planning on getting married this year. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/18 "2022-02-12T17:54:15Z")
“Know” may be a bit strong, but the daughter of my wife’s neighbors growing up died of the flu in late November 2019. I think I may have met her at some social event around our marriage or my in-laws’ 40th anniversary. The big question in our minds is whether it was possibly COVID or COVID and the flu, considering the timing, and the fact that she was in her early 30s and something of a fitness enthusiast. Definitely not the profile of someone who would typically die from influenza. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/19 "2022-02-12T20:14:20Z")
I don’t think so. I wouldn’t swear to it, but none of my relatives have died from flu, and i don’t recall hearing about anyone else i know who did so. I’ve had flu several times. Twice the year i was 14 (along with 3 diagnosed cases of strep. I was miserable and i think it depressed my immune system.) I also had it once as an adult. Flu sucks, and doesn’t feel like “a bad cold”. It also has a distinctive taste, as i learned the year i got the flumist vaccine. It tastes like sickness. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Ducky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrs_ducky/32/6227_2.png) [@Mrs\_Ducky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Ducky)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347/20 "2022-02-12T20:15:37Z")
A local radio personality (and also a friend of mine) died from the flu in 2018. He was 61. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-anyone-that-died-due-to-the-flu/959347.md?page=2)