47
votes
Accepted
Does COVID-19 have a case fatality rate of 41%? Is this formula correct?
The definition of mortality rate that you've given does not match any practical definition I'm familiar with.*
When people talk about the mortality rate of a disease, what they usually mean is the ...
- 586
20
votes
Does COVID-19 have a case fatality rate of 41%? Is this formula correct?
The equation you use for mortality is only really useful in the very long term for a known disease, when most cases have resolved.
It's not very informative in the short-term, when the vast majority ...
- 13.3k
14
votes
Does COVID-19 have a case fatality rate of 41%? Is this formula correct?
I'd like to chime in with an explanation of what exactly is wrong with the calculation offered in the question, rather than just saying "it's a wrong formula". Understanding the "whys" of the fallacy ...
- 241
10
votes
Accepted
How do they make sure someone has really died before declaring them dead?
You are correct that this happens. It is infrequent (there are not "many", as you say, compared to true deaths), but it occasionally happens that someone - even in a hospital - is thought to be dead ...
- 9,374
7
votes
What happens to the heart during cardiac arrest?
No, a heart does not necessarily stop beating during cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest occurs any tine the heart cannot pump blood to the brain at a rate/volume sufficient for the patient to remain ...
- 9,374
6
votes
Do you bleed to death after your penis is cut off?
The problem is there are too many unknowns. First, the speed of clotting varies from person to person. There are lab tests that measure clotting time (e.g. INR), especially useful when a patient ...
- 61
6
votes
Accepted
What sort of damage would someone get from a 80ft drop?
First off, she would be killed instantly. There wouldn't be any question of what might kill her "ultimately" because ultimately would be the moment she hit the ground. Yes, there have been people who ...
- 9,694
6
votes
What data and research is available on the mortality risk (infection fatality rate) of COVID-19?
Well, there is one meta-analytical estimate of the IFR for Covid-19 out already albeint only as a draft paper:
there were 13 estimates of IFR included in the final meta-analysis, from a wide range ...
5
votes
Maternal Mortality Ratio without healthcare
I believe the answer is somewhere between 0.5% and 1% (about 500-1000 deaths per 100000 births). Below is the list of the sources I reviewed. Some sources provide higher estimates, but those should be ...
- 211
5
votes
How does alcoholism technically (chemically) kill you?
On the chemical level, the toxicity of ethanol is mainly mediated by its breakdown product acetaldehyde. Alcohol is metabolized like this:
ethanol → acetaldehyde → acetate &...
- 15.8k
5
votes
Can you kill someone with a sound?
Sound is merely the vibration of molecules in a wave pattern and so the absolute theoretical answer to your question is, yes. Something that can vibrate your molecules has the power to kill you. It ...
- 396
5
votes
Accepted
When should I drink from the sea?
In the attempt to prevent or treat dehydration you should not drink sea water.
In short: By drinking seawater you ingest excessive amount of sodium chloride, which needs to be excreted by urine in ...
- 15.8k
5
votes
Accepted
How can a ruptured ulcer all the way in the duodenum, cause kidney failure?
Your stomach may contain bacteria that are harmless as long as they are in your digestive tract, but are potentially lethal if they get into other organs. A ruptured ulcer means that it's possible for ...
- 911
5
votes
How do you tell a brain-dead patient from a living one?
Once the decision to proceed with the brain death determination has been made, three conditions must be present: coma, the absence of brainstem reflexes, and apnea.
Coma should be evaluated by ...
- 6,742
4
votes
How do they make sure someone has really died before declaring them dead?
Disclaimer
anongoodnurse has provided an excellent answer mostly based on the
U.S. I will focus on Germany and European countries to provide you
with a broader view of the topic.
If you ...
- 6,742
4
votes
How do I confirm death and the need for CPR?
TL;DR
DO perform CPR as soon as one stops breathing normally and is irresponsive, and don't stop. PERIOD. To be on the safe side, even perform CPR on people you presume to be dead for a longer period ...
- 6,742
4
votes
Accepted
How accurate is the death of Caine in Menace II Society?
With 5 or 6 through-and-through gunshot wounds to the chest, the death I would expect to see would be utter silence. Almost instant unconsciousness and cardiac arrest would be the most likely outcome ...
- 9,694
4
votes
Does COVID-19 have a case fatality rate of 41%? Is this formula correct?
According to earlier answers, in this early phase of 2019-nCoV, Nd/(Nd+Nr) is an overestimator, and Nd/Nc is an underestimator.
Since the currently bantered about rate matches the underwestimator ...
- 91
4
votes
Accepted
Likelihood of death from coronavirus after being admitted
This must depend on the local situation. At the beginning of the pandemic Japanese Hospitals were admitting PCR positive asymptomatic patients. Then as the disease spread Chinese authorities in ...
- 13.2k
4
votes
Accepted
What is 'Rising of the lights' as a death?
According to the Glossary of Old Medical Terms by Craig Thornber:
Rising of the Lights: croup - any obstructive condition of the larynx or trachea (windpipe), characterised by a hoarse, barking ...
- 1,513
4
votes
What is causing recent increase in R00-R99 deaths?
From the CDC (bold added by me):
Provisional estimates by causes of death are subject to some nonrandom sampling error. This is because the delay in receiving the report of a death depends on the ...
- 13.3k
4
votes
How do I stop my doctor from killing me?
First up Coleman's, well, he's a crank. There's no other word for it - he's an AIDS denialist, a COVID-denialist, and the lion's share of his career has been spent writing lurid tabloid "advice&...
- 1,272
4
votes
Accepted
Would a person with high body fat survive longer without food?
Scientific studies of individuals who have died of starvation are thankfully uncommon. However, an analysis of the literature published in 2001 provides evidence of a sort of "minimum BMI" ...
- 2,991
4
votes
Accepted
Risks to quick vaccine development?
Unfortunately, there's no rule about viruses getting weaker. In fact the original SARS-CoV-2 was less deadly than some of the newer variants. In any case, SARS-CoV-2 has pretty much run rampant ...
- 991
4
votes
Accepted
What are the most age-invariant causes of death?
Nothing is really "invariant", especially if you include the very young and very old. All of the most common causes of death are strongly age dependent:
https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/...
- 13.3k
3
votes
What sort of damage would someone get from a 80ft drop?
I agree with @Carey Gregory's answer. I can tell you how a man falling only 30 feet landing on his back on concrete died.
A 30 year old male working on the underside (?) of a bridge, unsecured, fell ...
- 9,374
3
votes
Accepted
How many people have been instantly killed by smoking?
Short answer: maybe a few, but not instantly.
Nicotine poisoning exists but rarely is it fatal. Especially, when it is delivered through smoking.
There have been very few incidents of death by ...
- 424
3
votes
Is it possible to have a smile on the face after death?
At the moment of death, contrary to what may common assumption, rigor mortis does not set in; at the moment of death „flattency“ sets in, which is relaxation of muscles, not fixation or arrested ...
- 326
3
votes
Is death due to drug-induced respiratory arrest painful?
If you think of committing suicide, you can find help here: 1-800-273-8255
No, it is not painful.
In fact, opiates and and benzodiazepines are used for assisted suicide and for Palliative medicine.
...
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3
votes
How many people died in the USA on average per day including up to 2019?
In 2018, approximately 7779 people died per day in the US as per the CDC National Vital Statistics System.
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible