Death Statistics Comparison

Killed by the Common Flu

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 35 to 50 million Americans come down with the flu during each flu season.The CDC estimates that in the US more than 100,000 people are hospitalized and more than 20,000 people die from the flu and its complications every year.

The Bottom Line...

An Anthrax Epidemic?
Killed in car accidents	42,116*
Killed by the common flu	20,000*
Killed by murders	15,517*
Killed in airline crashes (of 477m passenger trips)	120 (1)
Killed by lightning strikes	90*
Killed by Anthrax	5
(1) Annual average over 19 year period. *Average annual totals in United States.

Murders in the U.S.

2000 FBI Crime Index figures: There were an estimated 15,517 murders in 2000, virtually no change from the 1999 murder estimate of 15,522. The number of murders was 21 percent less than in 1996 and 37.2 percent less than in 1991. more...

Killed by Airline Crashes

While there are risks in using all forms of transportation, commercial airline travel is one of the safest. From January 1982 to March 2001, a period of 19.25 years, there were a total of 8,109,000,000 passenger enplanements. During that same time period, there were 2,301 fatalities (120 people killed on average each year), and 348 serious injuries. This amounts to a 0.00003% chance of being seriously injured or killed in a commercial aviation accident. This is far less than any other mode of transportation. [Source: NTSB, Passenger Fatalities, 1982 through March 2001.] more...

Killed by Lightning

Lightning-related fatality, injury, and damage reports in the US were summarized for 36 years since 1959, based on the NOAA publication Storm Data. There were 3239 deaths, 9818 injuries, and 19,814 property-damage reports from lightning during this period. On average, 90 people are killed every year in the U.S. by lightning. [NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS SR-193] more...

Killed by Anthrax

As of November 21, 2001, The CDC has reported 18 confirmed cases, 5 suspected cases, and a total of 5 people killed by Anthrax in 2001 - the first confirmed deaths in more than 2 decades. The first victim, Florida-based photo editor Robert Stevens, worked at tabloid newspaper publisher American Media Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida. Two other men worked as distribution clerks in the Brentwood postal facility in Washington. Joseph P. Curseen, 47, died at the Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton, Maryland, and Thomas L. Morris Jr., 55, died at the Greater Southeast Community Hospital in Washington D.C. Kathy Nguyen, 61, died October 31, 2001. She was a New York hospital worker who contracted inhalation anthrax.  The latest victim, Ottilie Lundgren, died November 21, 2001 at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Connecticut. Ms. Lundgren was 94 years old.  more...  


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