Quote Originally Posted by Wetherby whaler View Post
There is always an increase in respiratory deaths among old people in January and it has always been put down to mixing around Christmas, no reason why this year should be any different except that for some reason death from a seasonal respiratory illness seems no longer to be considered a normal event. Did anyone worry last year when they had a sniffle on Christmas Day but still hugged granny?
Every year there is indeed a huge increase in hospital admissions and deaths from flu/pneumonia around/after xmas/new year - due to people and their bugs mixing indoors for long periods. We do seem to have accepted this, but perhaps we shouldn't have - a bit like accepting car deaths before seat-belts/speed limits/drink-drive limits - just because we accepted deaths in the past is not a reason to continue to do so.

As to how we address this post Covid - more research into flu vaccines would be a start - their efficacy is pretty limited, despite which huge numbers of doses are given each year, resulting in large profits. Having said that, I have had it every year for over a decade, though I have yet to do so this autumn/winter, as the risk of catching Covid is a GP's surgery or a pharmacy is considerable at the moment.

And even without Covid, maybe we should not hug grannie over xmas if we have a sniffle.