Covid-19 -- The Leading Cause Of Death Last Year Those Aged 45 - 54 Years -- October 21, 2022

Wuhan flu. The blog.  Coronavirus: statistics.     Seasonal flu: CDC.   

The book page: I can't stress enough, that if you are serious "about" learning about Covid-19, you will start a Covid-19 library, perhaps starting with;

• Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus, David Quammen, 2022.

Updates

Later, 9:29 p.m. CT: see weekly report, just released. 

Original Post

Re-posting.

I am absolutely convinced that the vast majority of Americans have never seen this graph. For those that have seen it, most have ignored it or have not studied it. Link here. It would be interesting to see a similar graphic in 1922 regarding the Spanish flu pandemic.

From 2017:

Now, from March, 2020 - October, 2021, from JAMA, July 5, 2022:

From March 2020 to October 2021, COVID-19 accounted for 1 in 8 deaths in the US and was a top 5 cause of death in every age group aged 15 years and older. 

Cancer and heart disease deaths exceeded COVID-19 deaths overall and in most age groups, whereas accidents were the leading cause of death among those aged 1 to 44 years. 

Compared with the 2020 time period, deaths from COVID-19 in the 2021 time period decreased in ranking among those aged 85 years or older but increased in ranking among those aged 15 to 54 years, and became the leading cause of death among those aged 45 to 54 years. 

The increased ranking of COVID-19 as a leading cause of death in some age groups is consistent with a downward age shift in the distribution of COVID-19 deaths in the US in 2021 compared with 2020, perhaps driven by higher COVID-19 vaccination rates in 2021 in the oldest age groups. 

The pandemic also has had indirect effects on other causes of death in the US. From 2019 to 2020, death rates increased for heart disease, accidents, stroke, Alzheimer disease, and diabetes. 

Potential explanations are fear of accessing health care or misattribution of COVID-19 deaths to other causes. 

Accidental deaths (including drug overdoses and unintentional alcohol poisoning), assault, and suicide remain major causes of death in the US, particularly in younger age groups; the pandemic may have contributed to some of these deaths.

In summary:

• Covid-19 is now the leading cause of death among those aged 45 t0 54 years;
• during the worst months of the pandemic,
• COVID-19 accounted for 1 in 8 deaths in the US; and,w
• as a top 5 cause of death in every age group aged 15 years and older

Other:

• if one eliminates heart disease and cancer, Covid-19 may be the leading cause of death in those older than 54 years of age;
• heart disease is, to a great extent, preventable, and treatable;
• the major causes of cancer can be prevented, and/or diagnosed earlier, improving survival rate: lung, colon, breast
• mRNA vaccine research from the Covid-19 pandemic could lead to huge advances in cancer therapy