Figures on flu deaths are misleading, usually too high, CDC says

**I wanted to make sure this got on the blog because this admission by the CDC doesn't surprise me in the least. Just ANOTHER case of fear mongering.**

In a typical season, about 36,000 deaths are reported, but that number is too high and grossly misleading, analysts say. Depending on the influenza strain, actual rates vary widely from year to year.

August 27, 2010|By Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times

Most reports about seasonal influenza cite an average of about 36,000 deaths in a typical season, but that number is too high and grossly misleading, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

The actual average is a little more than 23,000, the agency reported in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. But even that figure is misleading, the report added, because the numbers have ranged from as low as 3,300 deaths to nearly 50,000 over the last 30 years. The period in the analysis covers up to 2007 and does not include last year's H1N1 influenza pandemic.