Dear Brandy/ Reader:

www. cdc. gov/ flu/ vaccines: “CDC conducts studies each year to determine how well the influenza (flu) vaccine protects against flu illness.. recent studies show that flu vaccination reduces the risk of flu illness by between 40% and 60% among the overall population during seasons when most circulating flu viruses are well-matched to the flu vaccine….At least two factors play an important role in determining the likelihood that flu vaccine will protect a person from flu illness: 1) characteristics of the person being vaccinated (such as their age and health), and 2) the similarity or “match” between the flu viruses the flu vaccine is designed to protect against and the flu viruses spreading in the community… in general, recent studies have supported the conclusion that flu vaccination benefits public health, especially when the flu vaccine is well matched to circulating flu viruses”-

-my comment:  this means that the flu viruses (plural) keep mutating and evolving and a vaccine needs to be updated over time so to match a current mix of flu viruses.

The common cold viruses (again, plural) mutate and evolve so fast, that no vaccine ever caught up to their changeability, so there never has been a vaccine for the common cold.

No vaccine has been developed for the coronaviruses involved in the common cold or in the SARS and MERS coronavirus outbreaks that happened earlier in the 2000’s.

Back to the CDC (Center of Disease Control, USA) website: “Flu vaccine prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctor’s visits each year. For example, during 2017-2018, flu vaccination prevented an estimated 6.2 million influenza illnesses, 3.2 million influenza-associated medical visits, 91,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations, and 5,700 influenza-associated deaths…Getting vaccinated yourself may also protect people around you, including those who are more vulnerable to serious flu illness, like babies and young children, older people, and people with certain chronic health conditions.”-

– better take advantage of the flu vaccine and get vaccinated!

As to numbers today, according to worldometers: the number not in parenthesis is the number of total cases of infection, and the number in parenthesis is the total number of deaths:

3/19 (Thursday)- total global cases: 236,921 (9,829). China: 80,928,(3,245), Italy: 41,036 (3,405),  Iran: 18,407 (1,284), Spain: 17,395 (803), Germany: 14,544 (43), USA 11,355 (171).

3/23 (Monday)- total global cases: 358,803 (15,433), China 81,093 (3,270), Italy 59,138 (5,476), Iran 23,049 (1,812), Spain 33,089 (2,206), Germany 27,546 (115), USA 39,371 (467).

3/2 5(Wednesday)-  total global cases: 452,159, (20,494), China 81,218 (3,281), Italy 74,386 (7,503), Iran 27,017 (2,077), Spain 47,610 (3,434), Germany 35,740 (2,749), USA 60,653 (5,797).

*** total global cases almost doubled in six days, an increase of almost 100%, but China’s total cases increased by less than 2%, so I suppose the outbreak has slowed down significantly there, and has been slowing down for a while. On the other hand the pandemic is going strongest in Italy and Spain and is escalating in the USA. (I didn’t look at all the countries listed).

As long as borders are closed between countries, and for as long as social distancing and precautions are maintained in each country, and before an effective antiviral medication and/ or a vaccine becomes available, it really is about each country’s curve of total number of cases going up,  peaking, and then slowly going down in each and every country.

So it is a matter of time, waiting while socially distancing, and taking all the precautions recommended by the WHO and CDC.

anita