America’s risk paradox: Flu killed 80,000 people this year, but we’re more worried about GMOs

FluVaccine

We had a really bad flu season this year. The CDC just announced that about 80,000 Americans were killed …. H3N2 strains of influenza are really bad news, and it was precisely this type of flu virus that dominated the winter of 2017-18 …. Only about 37% of American adults bothered to get a flu shot …. So even though health officials and the media warned Americans that this past flu season was going to be really bad, Americans flat-out ignored them.

We did, however, buy more organic food than ever before …. This is the great paradox of risk perception …. We know for a fact that tens of thousands of Americans will die every single year from the flu. We have a tool — albeit an imperfect one — that could help greatly reduce that number ….

On the flip side, Americans think GMOs are scary and pesticides are giving them cancer …. Consequently, the public falsely thinks that they can make themselves healthier by purchasing organic food, sales of which hit record highs year after year.

Oh, the irony. Americans prefer to avoid the …. flu shot, putting them at greater danger from the (relatively high risk) flu. Likewise, people prefer to avoid (relatively low risk) GMOs by driving in their (relatively high risk) automobiles to Whole Foods.

Read full, original article: 80,000 Died From Flu (And Still 0 From GMOs)

{{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.singularReviewCountLabel }}
{{ reviewsTotal }}{{ options.labels.pluralReviewCountLabel }}
{{ options.labels.newReviewButton }}
{{ userData.canReview.message }}
screenshot at  pm

Are pesticide residues on food something to worry about?

In 1962, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring drew attention to pesticides and their possible dangers to humans, birds, mammals and the ...
glp menu logo outlined

Newsletter Subscription

* indicates required
Email Lists
glp menu logo outlined

Get news on human & agricultural genetics and biotechnology delivered to your inbox.