Comment Re:Wikipedia says (Score 0) 111
No. Of the people who were tested not only for Influenza A but also for subtype, 566 had H5N1. Of those, 332 died. Most people who get the flu get the sniffles and never go to their doctor. Those who go to their doctor often are told to rest and drink plenty of fluids. It's not very common to even get a simple surface antigen test, and I'm not even sure that most labs have the ability to test that. Those numbers are of cases that were tested in a lab. This is more likely to happen for patients for whom a diagnosis is useful - those who would get antivirals, such as the immunocompromised or the elderly. This is also more likely to happen for patients who are more serious. These numbers - 332 deaths and 566 cases - are lower bounds. Both numbers may be (and certainly are) higher - but I'd expect the death count to be much closer to the true value than the total case count. If 566 people were exposed to the Influenza A H5N1 in normal ways, most would probably react the same way as your standard H1N1 or H3N2 seasonal influenza. Far fewer than 332 would die.