Flu is not to blame for excess winter mortality

Cold weather rather than influenza is to blame for excess mortality and demands on health services in winter. Of 1265 annual excess winter deaths per million over the past 10 years, only 2.4% were due to influenza. Donaldson and Keatinge (p 89) say that with influenza causing such a small proportion of excess winter deaths, measures to reduce cold stress offer the greatest opportunities to reduce current levels of winter mortality.


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Relevant Article

Excess winter mortality: influenza or cold stress? Observational study
G C Donaldson and W R Keatinge
BMJ 2002 324: 89-90. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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