Are US flu death figures more PR than science?

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7529.1412

BMJ 2005;331:1412 (10 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7529.1412

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Are US flu death figures more PR than science?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

US data on influenza deaths are a mess. The Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC) acknowledges a difference betweenflu death and flu associated death yet uses the terms interchangeably.Additionally, there are significant statistical incompatibilitiesbetween official estimates and national vital statistics data.Compounding these problems is a marketing of fear—a CDCcommunications strategy in which medical experts "predict direoutcomes" during flu seasons.

The CDC website states what has become commonly accepted andwidely reported in the lay and scientific press: annually "about36 000 [Americans] die from flu" (www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease.htm)and "influenza/pneumonia" is the seventh leading cause of deathin the United States (www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm). Butwhy are flu and pneumonia bundled together? Is the relationshipso strong or unique to warrant characterising them as a singlecause of death?

David Rosenthal, director of Harvard University Health Services,said, "People don't necessarily die, per . . . [Full text of this article]

Peter Doshi, graduate student

Harvard University pdoshi@fas.harvard.edu

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