We now have reliable mortality data for 3 years of the pandemic, 2020-2022. COVID as the underlying cause of death was the #3 killer of Americans.
On this graph, every cause of death causing >0.1/100k per year is graphed.
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This is a cleaner version of the chart, where only the top 17 causes are graphed.
We can see that there are two causes that erupt after 50 (Parkinson's and Alzhiemer's).
External causes (Accidents, Suicides, Homicides) erupt early and stick around.
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People under 30 die much less frequently, but COVID-19 cracked the top ten coming in at #9. COVID WAS A TOP TEN CAUSE OF DEATH UNDER 30.
External causes of mortality loom large in this group.
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This is why the "but kids rarely die from COVID" argument by covid denialists and the Urgency of Normal Ghouls is particularly awful - because young people rarely die of ANY diseases but of course we care very much about pediatric cancers and diabetes and other things.
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Looking at women, COVID is a top ten cause of death <12, gets to about 7th by 30, and ends up being the third leading cause of death amongst all American women.
External causes of mortality peak in female youth but overall are much less common than with men.
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Looking at men, external causes rank higher generally. At no age is COVID less than a top ten cause of death and it again ends up at #3 overall.
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Data notes:
The rates (Y axis) per 100,000/year. They are plotted logarithmically as the elderly deaths would make it impossible to see younger deaths.
EG: this is the graph for men on a linear scale. Helpful for sorting out causes of death 75+, useless for most ages.
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In short & in conclusion, COVID IS A VERY IMPORTANT CAUSE OF DEATH AT EVERY AGE.
If you were a child, Top 10
if you were a young adult, Top 7
If you are middle aged, Top 3
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Covid minimizers, denialists, ghouls, and antivaxxers have abused the concept of infection fatality rate or age stratification to the point of uselessness: COVID-19 IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME PANDEMIC THAT KILLED 1 MILLION AMERICANS, important at EVERY age.
/fin
also note to minimizers: - flu very much still a top 15 cause of death.
A shareable little graph, COVID was AT LEAST a top 12 cause of death at every age 1-85
and finally, in the truest transparency, here is the entire dataset that created the graph:
Correcting revisionist history:
"COVID is not a problem for young people in the US"
Covid responsible (not "with", underlying cause) for 2% of all deaths <20. That's 1 out of every 50 deaths of all kids who die. #1 in infectious diseases, 5th in disease overall.
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COVID-19 deaths created 300,000 American orphans, 330,000 if we count "primary caregivers" and 380,000 if we count "secondary caregivers". That's a lot of childhood harm.
2x as common for Black kids
4x as common for Indigenous kids
1.6X as common for Hispanic kids
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Our most vulnerable children, with medical illnesses, suffered the most during the pandemic. Children with heart disease, respiratory disease, neurologic diseases, and chromosomal abnormalities suffered more severe symptoms than did children without those conditions.
Why do you use pronouns in your bio?
Because it's an easy way to promote inclusivity & to increase awareness of gender expression. It costs me nothing, &because I work with kids who are establishing their identity it shows that I don't make assumptions.
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Is being transgender a mental illness?
Being transgender is not a mental illness. It is a natural variation of human phenotype, though some transgender individuals may experience distress, called gender dysphoria, which is addressed through appropriate care.
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Can a man be a woman?
Yes. Some individuals identify as a gender different from their assigned sex at birth.
"What is a woman?"
A woman is a female by identity. This can refer to biological sex identity or social gender identity, depending on the context.
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🧵RFK Jr. is an antivax, AIDS-denying, absolutely antiscientific conspiracist.🧵
ANTIVAX:
“They get [vaccinated], that night they have a fever of 103, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone... This is a Holocaust, what this is doing to our country.”
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ANTIVAX:
"I do believe that autism does come from vaccines"
Metaanalyses involving MILLIONS of children have confirmed there is no link. The lie started with another antivaxxer, disgraced fraudster Andrew Wakefield, who fabricated data.
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ANTIVAX:
"I've read all the science on autism and I can tell you, if you want to know... If it didn't come from the vaccines, then where did it come from?"
Autism primarily from combo of genetic factors & early brain development differences.
Battling Election Misinformation
Part 2: "The Mandate"
Contrary to media/republican pronouncements, the election of Donald Trump was one of the narrowest (by popular vote, +1.73%) in history, with only 7 elections since 1800 being narrower.
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In fact, if we look at the margin of victory when we include all eligible voters, Trump wins with 31.3% of the voting population, compared to Harris' 30.2% and 1% going to other candidates. 37.4% did not vote.
If we only include voters, Trump wins 50.03% to 49.97%
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When we look at the electoral college results, Trump won 58% of available electoral college votes. This would rank his election 41st out of 57 elections since 1800.
"[AIDS] is not being caused by a virus. It's not a virus... These people are dying because of 'poppers'... they were people who were part of a gay lifestyle... "
"This is not a viral disease, but it's a disease that is environmental."
- HHS Secretary Nominee RFK Jr
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Chemicals in water are causing trans kids: "A lot of the problems we see in kids... are coming from chemical exposures, including a lot of the sexual dysphoria that we’re seeing."
- HHS Secretary Nominee RFK Jr
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Wifi radiation causes autism, allergies, asthma, eczema: “I think it degrades your mitochondria and it opens your blood-brain barrier,”
🧵Battling Antivax Disinfo🧵
Vaccination did NOT increase cancer deaths.
Here I took the 6 deadliest cancers (all 5 survival rates under 50%) in a highly vaccinated population (25-54), and we can see ZERO evidence of vaccine-related cancer deaths, all the way to May 2024.
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If i move ages to 55+, we see the same thing, and we are now looking at a lot of deaths from these extremely aggressive cancers, so this isn't some underpowered stuff here. There is NO evidence that deadly cancers have increased due to vaccination.
None.
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If we take all ages 5+ and look for until May 2024, we see no increase in these highly aggressive cancer deaths, or any cancer deaths.