Swine Flu? How About These Killers...

Suppose that 1,000 people die of "swine flu" in the United States. Panic time? Nah. It's just par for the course, you see. At the end of April 30, only one swine flu-related death has been reported in the U.S. Death is all around us, always waiting, and there are many ways to die. Swine flu is just one little second-string player on a very large team of expert killers. From the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), here is a list of "Leading Causes of Death" (for the U.S.). Notice how many died of influenza/pneumonia. Number of deaths for leading causes of death (in U.S.): Heart disease: 652,091 Cancer: 559,312 Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 143,579 Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 130,933 Accidents (unintentional injuries): 117,809 Diabetes: 75,119 Alzheimer's disease: 71,599 Influenza/Pneumonia: 63,001 Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 43,901 Septicemia: 34,136 Source: Deaths: Final Data for 2005, Table C More data: Deaths, percent of total deaths, and death rates for the 15 leading causes of death: United States and each State Deaths: Leading Causes for 2004 CommieBama Hats and More Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Follow ChiNewsBench on Twitter