Flu Surpasses AIDS as Lethal Killer

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza has surpassed AIDS as a lethal killer in the U.S. and contributes to an average 36,000 annual U.S. deaths. The U.S. flu-related death toll surged fourfold from 16,263 in 1976-77 to 64,684 in 1998-99, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association. Those numbers average out to 16,000 more deaths yearly than the previous estimate of 20,000. The rise is attributed to the vulnerability of an aging population for whom the vaccine is often ineffective, government research shows.

For more information on Flu see:
CDC: Flu Season 2002-03
This Year's Flu Season - An Old Problem With a New Twist