Sunday, December 21, 2008

Life expectancy in USA and the 1918 Pandemic Influenza

The 1918 dip was caused by 1918 Influenza Pandemic

I created a Google Doc here (Data source is from the National Vital Statistics, Vol 50, No. 6.)

2 comments:

  1. profound and simple!

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  2. A very interesting visual. A quick question, why is there so much variation in the data pre-1944? Was there a methodology change in the data collection? Or was there a systematic lifestyle change?

    I'd believe either, but am leaning towards a difference in data collection. The biggest variation is due to the influenza outbreak, so it's possible the other variations correlate with other large public health issues. Perhaps post-WWII something happened in the health care space?

    (edited slightly, I misread the title :)

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