The burden of influenza in the United States can vary from year to year depending on which viruses are circulating, how many people receive an influenza vaccination, and how effective the vaccination is in that particular year. During the 2023-2024 flu season, around 28,000 people lost their lives to the disease. Although most people recover from influenza without needing medical care, the disease can be deadly among young children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems or chronic illnesses. Deaths due to influenza Even though most people recover from influenza without medical care, influenza and pneumonia can be deadly, especially for older people and those with certain preexisting conditions. Influenza is a common cause of pneumonia and although most cases of influenza do not develop into pneumonia, those that do are often more severe and more deadly. Deaths due to influenza are most common among the elderly, with a mortality rate of around 32 per 100,000 population during the 2023-2024 flu season. In comparison, the mortality rate for those aged 50 to 64 years was 9.1 per 100,000 population. Flu vaccinations The most effective way to prevent influenza is to receive an annual influenza vaccination. These vaccines have proven to be safe and are usually cheap and easily accessible. Nevertheless, every year a large share of the population in the United States still fails to get vaccinated against influenza. For example, in the 2022-2023 flu season, only 35 percent of those aged 18 to 49 years received a flu vaccination. Unsurprisingly, children and the elderly are the most likely to get vaccinated. It is estimated that during the 2022-2023 flu season, vaccinations prevented over 929 thousand influenza cases among children aged 6 months to 4 years.

The mortality rate from influenza in the United States is by far highest among those aged 65 years and older. During the 2023-2024 flu season, the mortality rate from influenza for this age group was around 32.1 per 100,000 population. The burden of influenza The impact of influenza in the U.S. varies from season to season, but in the 2023-2024 flu season, there were an estimated 40 million cases. These cases resulted in around 470,000 hospitalizations. Although most people recover from influenza without requiring medical treatment, the disease can be deadly for young children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems or chronic illnesses. During the 2023-2024 flu season, around 28,000 people in the U.S. lost their lives due to influenza. Impact of vaccinations The most effective way to prevent influenza is to receive an annual vaccination at the beginning of flu season. Flu vaccines are safe and can greatly reduce the burden of the disease. During the 2022-2023 flu season, vaccinations prevented around 2,479 deaths among those aged 65 years and older. Although flu vaccines are usually cheap and easily accessible, every year a large share of the population in the U.S. still does not get vaccinated. For example, during the 2022-2023 flu season, only about 35 percent of those aged 18 to 49 years received a flu vaccination.

Over 12 million people in the United States died from all causes between the beginning of January 2020 and August 21, 2023. Over 1.1 million of those deaths were with confirmed or presumed COVID-19.

Vaccine rollout in the United States Finding a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine was an urgent health priority since the very start of the pandemic. In the United States, the first two vaccines were authorized and recommended for use in December 2020. One has been developed by Massachusetts-based biotech company Moderna, and the number of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines administered in the U.S. was over 250 million. Moderna has also said that its vaccine is effective against the coronavirus variants first identified in the UK and South Africa.

Context

New York has presented the most cases compared to all states across the U.S..There have also been critiques regarding how much more unnoticed impact the flu has caused. My dataset allows us to compare whether or not this is true according to the most recent data.

Content

This COVID-19 data is from Kaggle whereas the New York influenza data comes from the U.S. government health data website. I merged the two datasets by county and FIPS code and listed the most recent reports of 2020 COVID-19 cases and deaths alongside the 2019 known influenza cases for comparison.

Acknowledgements

I am thankful to Kaggle and the U.S. government for making the data that made this possible openly available.

Inspiration

This data can be extended to answer the common misconceptions of the scale of the COVID-19 and common flu. My inspiration stems from supporting conclusions with data rather than simply intuition.

I would like my data to help answer how we can make U.S. citizens realize what diseases are most impactful.

Between January and August 2020, there has been approximately 48.2 thousand deaths in England and Wales with COVID-19 as an underlying cause. As illustrated in the table, the number of deaths as a result of COVID-19 are much higher than from either pneumonia or influenza. There has been over three times the number of deaths from COVID-19 than pneumonia and influenza so far in 2020. The overall number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the UK can be found here. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Deaths counts for influenza, pneumonia, and COVID-19 reported to NCHS by week ending date, by state and HHS region, and age group.

Note: On April 30, 2024, the Federal mandate for COVID-19 and influenza associated hospitalization data to be reported to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) expired. Hospitalization data beyond April 30, 2024, will not be updated on the Open Data Portal. Hospitalization and ICU admission data collected from summer 2020 to May 10, 2023, are sourced from the California Hospital Association (CHA) Survey. Data collected on or after May 11, 2023, are sourced from CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN).

Data is from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Respiratory Virus State Dashboard at https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Respiratory-Viruses/RespiratoryDashboard.aspx.

Data are updated each Friday around 2 pm.

For COVID-19 death data: As of January 1, 2023, data was sourced from the California Department of Public Health, California Comprehensive Death File (Dynamic), 2023–Present. Prior to January 1, 2023, death data was sourced from the COVID-19 case registry. The change in data source occurred in July 2023 and was applied retroactively to all 2023 data to provide a consistent source of death data for the year of 2023. Influenza death data was sourced from the California Department of Public Health, California Comprehensive Death File (Dynamic), 2020–Present.

COVID-19 testing data represent data received by CDPH through electronic laboratory reporting of test results for COVID-19 among residents of California. Testing date is the date the test was administered, and tests have a 1-day lag (except for the Los Angeles County, which has an additional 7-day lag). Influenza testing data represent data received by CDPH from clinical sentinel laboratories in California. These laboratories report the aggregate number of laboratory-confirmed influenza virus detections and total tests performed on a weekly basis. These data do not represent all influenza testing occurring in California and are available only at the state level.

In 2022, the total number of deaths from influenza and pneumonia in Canada amounted to 5,985, an increase from 4,115 deaths the year before. From 2000 to 2022, Canada registered the highest number of deaths due to influenza and pneumonia in 2018, when 8,594 people died from these diseases. This statistic shows the number of deaths from influenza and pneumonia in Canada from 2000 to 2022.

This dataset contains the following files for California influenza surveillance data: 1) Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Data by Region and Influenza Season from volunteer sentinel providers; 2) Clinical Sentinel Laboratory Influenza and Other Respiratory Virus Surveillance Data by Region and Influenza Season from volunteer sentinel laboratories; and 3) Public Health Laboratory Influenza Respiratory Virus Surveillance Data by Region and Influenza Season from California public health laboratories. The Immunization Branch at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) collects, compiles and analyzes information on influenza activity year-round in California and produces a weekly influenza surveillance report during October through May. The California influenza surveillance system is a collaborative effort between CDPH and its many partners at local health departments, public health and clinical laboratories, vital statistics offices, healthcare providers, clinics, emergency departments, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). California data are also included in the CDC weekly influenza surveillance report, FluView, and help contribute to the national picture of Influenza activity in the United States. The information collected allows CDPH and CDC to: 1) find out when and where influenza activity is occurring; 2) track influenza-related illness; 3) determine what influenza viruses are circulating; 4) detect changes in influenza viruses; and 5) measure the impact influenza is having on hospitalizations and deaths.

This dataset is a per-state amalgamation of demographic, public health and other relevant predictors for COVID-19.

Deaths, Infections and Tests by State

The COVID Tracking Project: https://covidtracking.com/data/api

Used positive, death and totalTestResults from the API for, respectively, Infected, Deaths and Tested in this dataset. Please read the documentation of the API for more context on those columns

Predictor Data and Sources

Population (2020)

Density is people per meter squared https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/

ICU Beds and Age 60+

https://khn.org/news/as-coronavirus-spreads-widely-millions-of-older-americans-live-in-counties-with-no-icu-beds/

GDP

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/gdp-by-state/

Income per capita (2018)

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/per-capita-income-by-state/

Gini

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_Gini_coefficient

Unemployment (2020)

Rates from Feb 2020 and are percentage of labor force
https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

Sex (2017)

Ratio is Male / Female
https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/distribution-by-gender/

Smoking Percentage (2020)

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/smoking-rates-by-state/

Influenza and Pneumonia Death Rate (2018)

Death rate per 100,000 people
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/flu_pneumonia_mortality/flu_pneumonia.htm

Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease Death Rate (2018)

Death rate per 100,000 people
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/lung_disease_mortality/lung_disease.htm

Active Physicians (2019)

https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-active-physicians/

Hospitals (2018)

https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-hospitals

Health spending per capita

Includes spending for all health care services and products by state of residence. Hospital spending is included and reflects the total net revenue. Costs such as insurance, administration, research, and construction expenses are not included.
https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/avg-annual-growth-per-capita/

Pollution (2019)

Pollution: Average exposure of the general public to particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5) measured in micrograms per cubic meter (3-year estimate)
https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/air/state/ALL

Medium and Large Airports

For each state, number of medium and large airports https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_the_United_States

Temperature (2019)

Note that FL was incorrect in the table, but is corrected in the Hottest States paragraph
https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/average-temperatures-by-state/
District of Columbia temperature computed as the average of Maryland and Virginia

Urbanization (2010)

Urbanization as a percentage of the population https://www.icip.iastate.edu/tables/population/urban-pct-states

Age Groups (2018)

https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/distribution-by-age/

School Closure Dates

Schools that haven't closed are marked NaN https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/map-coronavirus-and-school-closures.html

Note that some datasets above did not contain data for District of Columbia, this missing data was found via Google searches manually entered.

Influenza, also called the flu, is one of the most infectious diseases worldwide. Its symptoms range from mild to severe, and include sore throat, cough, runny nose, fever, headache, and muscle pain, but can also cause severe illness and death among high-risk populations such as the elderly and children. During the 2023-2024 flu season, there were 40 million cases of influenza in the United States. Influenza deaths Although influenza does not require medical attention for most people, it can be deadly, and causes thousands of deaths every year. The impact of influenza varies from year to year. The number of influenza deaths during the 2023-2024 flu season was 27,965. The vast majority of deaths attributed to influenza during the 2023-2024 flu season occurred among those aged 65 years and older. Vaccination An annual influenza vaccination remains the most effective way of preventing influenza. During the 2022-2023 flu season, influenza vaccinations prevented an estimated 2,479 deaths among U.S. adults aged 65 years and older. Although, flu vaccinations are accessible and cheap, a large share of the United States population still fails to get vaccinated every year. In 2022-2023, only 35 percent of those aged 18 to 49 years received a flu vaccination, much lower compared to children and the elderly.

Influenza and pneumonia caused around 10.9 deaths in the U.S. per 100,000 population in 2023. Influenza, or the flu, is a viral infection that is highly contagious and especially common in the winter season. Influenza is a common cause of pneumonia, although most cases of the flu do not develop into pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection or inflammation of the lungs and is particularly deadly among young children and the elderly. Influenza cases Influenza is very common in the United States, with an estimated 40 million cases reported in 2023-2024. Common symptoms of the flu include cough, fever, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat and headache. Symptoms can be mild but can also be severe enough to require medical attention. In 2023-2024, there were around 18 million influenza-related medical visits in the United States. Prevention To prevent contracting the flu, people can take everyday precautions such as regularly washing their hands and avoiding those who are sick, but the best way to prevent the flu is by receiving the flu vaccination every year. Receiving a flu vaccination is especially important for young children and the elderly, as they are most susceptible to flu complications and associated death. In 2024, around 70 percent of those aged 65 years and older received a flu vaccine, while only 33 percent of those aged 18 to 49 years had done so.

NNDSS - TABLE 1R. Hepatitis C, perinatal infection to Influenza-associated pediatric mortality - 2020. In this Table, provisional cases* of notifiable diseases are displayed for United States, U.S. territories, and Non-U.S. residents. Notice: Data from California published in week 29 for years 2019 and 2020 were incomplete when originally published on July 24, 2020. On August 4, 2020, incomplete case counts were replaced with a "U" indicating case counts are not available for specified time period. Note: This table contains provisional cases of national notifiable diseases from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS). NNDSS data from the 50 states, New York City, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories are collated and published weekly on the NNDSS Data and Statistics web page (https://wwwn.cdc.gov/nndss/data-and-statistics.html). Cases reported by state health departments to CDC for weekly publication are provisional because of the time needed to complete case follow-up. Therefore, numbers presented in later weeks may reflect changes made to these counts as additional information becomes available. The national surveillance case definitions used to define a case are available on the NNDSS web site at https://wwwn.cdc.gov/nndss/. Information about the weekly provisional data and guides to interpreting data are available at: https://wwwn.cdc.gov/nndss/infectious-tables.html. Footnotes: U: Unavailable — The reporting jurisdiction was unable to send the data to CDC or CDC was unable to process the data. -: No reported cases — The reporting jurisdiction did not submit any cases to CDC. N: Not reportable — The disease or condition was not reportable by law, statute, or regulation in the reporting jurisdiction. NN: Not nationally notifiable — This condition was not designated as being nationally notifiable. NP: Nationally notifiable but not published. NC: Not calculated — There is insufficient data available to support the calculation of this statistic. Cum: Cumulative year-to-date counts. Max: Maximum — Maximum case count during the previous 52 weeks. * Case counts for reporting years 2019 and 2020 are provisional and subject to change. Cases are assigned to the reporting jurisdiction submitting the case to NNDSS, if the case's country of usual residence is the U.S., a U.S. territory, unknown, or null (i.e. country not reported); otherwise, the case is assigned to the 'Non-U.S. Residents' category. Country of usual residence is currently not reported by all jurisdictions or for all conditions. For further information on interpretation of these data, see https://wwwn.cdc.gov/nndss/document/Users_guide_WONDER_tables_cleared_final.pdf. †Previous 52 week maximum and cumulative YTD are determined from periods of time when the condition was reportable in the jurisdiction (i.e., may be less than 52 weeks of data or incomplete YTD data). § Please refer to the CDC WONDER publication for weekly updates to the footnote for this condition.

In 2023, there were **** deaths from influenza and pneumonia in Canada per 100,000 population. Influenza, more commonly known as the flu, is a highly contagious viral infection and frequent cause of pneumonia. Pneumonia is a more serious infection of the lungs and is particularly deadly among young children, the elderly, and those with certain chronic conditions. Vaccination There exist vaccines for both influenza and pneumonia, and although effectiveness varies, vaccination remains one of the best ways to prevent these illnesses. Nevertheless, only around ** percent of Canadians received an influenza vaccination in the past year in 2022. The most common reason why Canadian adults received the influenza vaccination was to prevent infection or because they did not want to get sick. Pneumonia hospitalization Every year tens of thousand of people in Canada are hospitalized for pneumonia. In *********, there were over ****** emergency room visits for pneumonia in Canada, a substantial decrease from the numbers recorded from 2010 to 2020. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those aged 65 years and older account for the highest number of emergency room visits for pneumonia. The median length of stay for emergency department visits for pneumonia in Canada has increased in recent years, with the median length of stay around *** minutes in *********.

This dataset represents preliminary estimates of cumulative U.S. COVID-19 disease burden for the 2024-2025 period, including illnesses, outpatient visits, hospitalizations, and deaths. The weekly COVID-19-associated burden estimates are preliminary and based on continuously collected surveillance data from patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. The data come from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET), a surveillance platform that captures data from hospitals that serve about 10% of the U.S. population. Each week CDC estimates a range (i.e., lower estimate and an upper estimate) of COVID-19 -associated burden that have occurred since October 1, 2024.

Note: Data are preliminary and subject to change as more data become available. Rates for recent COVID-19-associated hospital admissions are subject to reporting delays; as new data are received each week, previous rates are updated accordingly.

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