It’s true, I’m not a virologist.
In fact, the only thing I really know about viruses is that I had the flu once when I was 16. That was the sickest I’ve ever been, I could do nothing, I was in bed the whole time, don’t even know if I went to the bathroom or ate.
So you must be young
Many of us have seen measles and whooping cough and polio and chicken pox. Fewer remember small pix. A virus can run like a prairie fire
One doesn’t have to be a virologist. One just needs to pay attention. If patient zero shopped in a market , ate at a restaurant, went to a movie theater or concert then the potential is thousands of unknown patients all of whom have come in contact with thousand of others. Not every one has to catch the virus for the numbers to be staggering. That’s why limiting your exposure to crowds can be helpful. Limiting foreign travel is helpful
We will get over tjis eventually. Mitigation can make it sooner rather than later. Many of the estimates are worst case scenarios. They most likely won’t happen IF people adjust now
By the way do you know who you caught the flu from? Can you trace that back beyond a close friend or family member? Probably not
When I got the Hong Kong flu I was in college. Have no clue why Dick person passed it along
If you were sixteen you probably caught the flu at school or at some other activity with others your age. If you’ve only had one strain of influenza in your life you have been very fortunate. It could mean you have very limited immunity and may be more apt to catch a strain of flu that you haven’t had. One case thirytwo years ago doesn’t give you much now against all strains.
I’m a generation older than you and I have had at least five cases of the flu/pneumonia plus mumps, chicken pox, red measles and German measles. It’s possible I’ve had milder cases of the flu that I thought was simply a bad cold. By the way some colds are corona viruses.