There have been thousands more deaths in the UK than expected in recent months and “we don’t know why”, according to New Scientist magazine which attempts to get to the bottom of the question before admitting the experts are all baffled.
The UK has seen an unexplained surge in deaths in recent months, causing concern among the country’s chief medical officers, all of whom are claiming to be perplexed about the cause.
New Scientist reports:
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“Since April, there have been 22,500 more deaths than expected in the UK. Health experts are concerned but unsure of the causes – which could include covid-19, population ageing and NHS problems.
“Many suggestions have been put forward for why there have been about 22,500 more deaths between April and August than would normally be expected, but there is little agreement so far on the cause or causes.”
It’s not just the UK where excess deaths are causing puzzlement among the medical establishment.
More people in Alberta, Canada are dying of “ill-defined and unknown causes” than any other cause of death including cancer, heart disease, and Covid-19, according to a study released in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Canadian doctors and a civil liberties lawyer in the Canadian province of Alberta are raising concerns about a growing trend of deaths labeled as “unknown causes” after an unprecedented increase in such deaths was recorded in 2021.
This new category on autopsy reports and death records now tops ‘Covid-19,’ which was added to Alberta’s death tally in 2020. A study looking at excess deaths in Alberta was quietly released in March in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases.
That study found the “Top 10 Causes of Death in 2021” by the Government of Alberta were as follows:
- ill-defined and unknown causes (3,362)
- Dementia (2,135)
- Covid-19 (1,950)
- Chronic ischemic heart disease (1,939)
- Malignant neoplasms of trachea, bronchus, and lung (1,552)
- Acute myocardial infarction (1,075)
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( 1,028)
- Diabetes mellitus (728)
- Stroke (612)
- Accidental poisoning by and exposure to drugs and other substances (604)
The unknown causes of death category began appearing recently — and doctors are baffled.
“I think it’s probably multifactorial, so there are probably many things playing into that,” said Dr. Daniel Gregson, an associate professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He specializes in infectious diseases and microbiology. Independent Sentinel reports:
Dr. Gregson believes those factors include a lack of resources to determine the cause of death in certain cases, delayed access to healthcare services, and post-Covid-19 complications.
“We have this impression of surviving Covid, and that’s the end of it, and that’s not necessarily true,” Dr. Gregson told CTV News.
Dr. Gregson noted a large study out of the U.S. which found that people with Covid-19 are at a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, pulmonary embolism, and death than those who were not infected.
This risk is even higher for those who were hospitalized with Covid-19. Dr. Gregson surmised, “We do expect that there will be deaths that aren’t directly related to Covid, but indirectly related to COVID to occur after the diagnosis in patients after the first month of infection.” He said, “One would expect some of those patients to survive the Covid and then die at home from other complications.”
Alberta Health and the medical examiner’s office said they are looking into this report data but have yet to explain the sudden spike in deaths from unknown causes.
