The current c_ronavirus disease, C_vid-19, has been called a once-in-a-century pandemic. But it may also be a once-in-a-century evidence fiasco.
At a time when everyone needs better information, from disease modelers and governments to people quarantined or just social distancing, we lack reliable evidence on how many people have been infected with SARS-C_V-2 or who continue to become infected. Better information is needed to guide decisions and actions of monumental significance and to monitor their impact.
V_ccines or affordable treatments take many months (or even years) to develop and test properly. Given such timelines, the consequences of long-term lockdowns are entirely unknown.
These “mild” coronaviruses may be implicated in several thousands of d_aths every year worldwide, though the vast majority of them are not documented with precise testing. Instead, they are lost as noise among 60 million d_aths from various causes every year.
Although successful surveillance systems have long existed for influenza, the disease is confirmed by a laboratory in a tiny minority of cases. In the U.S., for example, so far this season 1,073,976 specimens have been tested and 222,552 (20.7%) have tested positive for influenza. In the same period, the estimated number of influenza-like illnesses is between 36,000,000 and 51,000,000, with an estimated 22,000 to 55,000 flu d_aths.
Note the uncertainty about influenza-like illness d_aths: a 2.5-fold range, corresponding to tens of thousands of d_aths. Every year, some of these d_aths are due to influenza and some to other viruses, like common-cold coronaviruses.
In an autopsy series that tested for respiratory viruses in specimens from 57 elderly persons who died during the 2016 to 2017 influenza season, influenza viruses were detected in 18% of the specimens, while any kind of respiratory virus was found in 47%. In some people who die from viral respiratory pathogens, more than one virus is found upon autopsy and bacteria are often superimposed. A positive test for coronavirus does not mean necessarily that this virus is always primarily responsible for a patient’s demise.
(hope this helps can i plz have brainlist :D hehe)
