The CDC prior to Covid-19 skewed flu death statistics by lumping deaths due to pneumonia in with flu (
P&I report if you're looking at pre-2020 stats on their website) even though pneumonia is caused by a lot of other things such as chemical inhalation, emphysema, aspiration, stomach acid producing drugs, other viruses besides the flu, various bacteria and on and on...
From the British Medical Journal:
Are US flu deaths more PR than science?
US data on influenza deaths are a mess. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) acknowledges a difference between flu death and flu associated death yet uses the terms interchangeably. Additionally, there are significant statistical incompatibilities between official estimates and national vital statistics data. Compounding these problems is a marketing of fear—a CDC communications strategy in which medical experts “predict dire outcomes” during flu seasons.
The CDC website states what has become commonly accepted and widely reported in the lay and scientific press: annually “about 36 000 [Americans] die from flu” and “influenza/pneumonia” is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. But why are flu and pneumonia bundled together? Is the relationship so strong or unique to warrant characterising them as a single cause of death?
Lay article explaining it from HuffPost Canada: "Don't Believe Everything You Read About Flu Deaths"
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/lawrence-solomon/death-by-influenza_b_4661442.html
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