Silver Book Fact
Increase in flu mortality between 1970 and 1990
Mortality from influenza increased from between 7,000 and 32,000 annual deaths in the 1970s, to between 36,000 and 72,000 annual deaths in the 1990s.
Thompson W, Shay D, Weintraub E, Brammer L, et al. Mortality Associated with Influenza and Respiratory Synctial Virus in the United States. JAMA. 2003; 289(2): 179-86. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=195750