More people die from the flu then staph
I recently came across this letter written to a newspaper “Reaction to staph outbreak disproportionate to risk”. In this letter the author makes a lot of good points.
The author says, that the publics reaction to staph is over-rated. After all The Centers for Disease Control predicts only 19,000 people will die from MRSA each year in the U.S. Twice that number will die from the flu, 36,000, or so it is predicted. The kicker here is, we have a vaccine for the flu but not for MRSA. We as a people are afraid of what we don’t understand fully. If a vaccine existed, people would rush to be vaccinated.
I don’t think we should be in any sort of a panic. The individual risk for infection is very low. How ever, it is important that Staph receives media attention. As the author of the letter says, we are afraid of what we don’t know. The only way to stop the panic is through public awareness. This site is intended to educate not panic.
Tags: Centers for Disease Control, flu, MRSA