Tue 13 Feb 2007
Avian Flu “Favors” Younger Age Groups? 
Posted by alice under Current Events, Health, Social & Cultural
Of the H5N1 avian flu cases reported to and verified by WHO, the number of cases for people younger than 30 years of age is disproportionately higher than those of older age groups. However, mortality rates are especially high among the 10–19 age group. WHO gathered these statistics beginning in November 2003 — when the first cases came to light — until just this past November 2006.
5 Responses to “ Avian Flu “Favors” Younger Age Groups? ”
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March 14th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
That would be much better displayed as a spine plot, if you’re interested in comparing proportions.
October 5th, 2007 at 10:41 am
Hi,
I agree. Excpet that I suspect here we do not know if the infection rate is the same for each of those age groups, and we do not know what the age distribution in the populations the statistics are taken from is. All cases means they are pooled across countries with very different age distributions.
Unless these issues are discussed and the position explained in the report I would suggest :
Only plot the fatality rate per age group.
The current plot is confusing because it is headed fatality rates, and those are the numbers on the columns, but the scale at left is different.
Dave
December 8th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Hmmm , maybe it’s because of their youth their immune systems are still not as developed as the older age brackets.
And another possibility is that their age cluster has a higher exposure level.
January 8th, 2009 at 1:39 am
This is very scary , there are so many dangerous things that can harm our young ones and this informations is both daunting and a blessing.
A blessing because we now know that we should be more vigilant towards this.
And daunting because it’s another thing to worry about.
January 25th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
We just had our 3rd case of death by bird flu last week. Everyone is on alert, especially since it is Chinese New Year, and many are heading back to China to Celebrate. This opens the possiblity of spreading the disease.