The Flu Is, Like, Bad

One thing that became apparent during Covid is most people have no idea what the flu is like, and it's because "we" basically call every illness worse than a mild cold 'the flu' or even 'stomach flu' (which has nothing to do with influenza).

Whatever the precise merits of the comparison between the two, people arguing that "Covid is no big deal, it's just like the flu" weren't making the point they thought they were making.

It can really suck and people do die from it, some seasons in fairly large numbers, and "get your flu vaccine" was a public health plea, not just a suggestion for individual health improvement.

This flu season’s ferocious start has given way to record-shattering levels of transmission — and massive strains on the American health system.

In the week ending November 26, more than 34,000 positive flu tests were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from labs around the US, as shown in the orange line on the chart below. That’s more positive flu tests than have been reported in any single week during any flu season on record, going back as far as 1997.

And somehow we went from, "a silver lining of Covid is 'we' all now know that we should wear masks if we are sick and stay home if possible" to "lol weirdo shut-in mask wearing freaks." I believe that last one was actually in a CDC press release once.