No, we're not talking about the edible kind that Frenchies love to feast on, we're talking about tiny snails in tropical rivers that spread schistosomiasis, which kills 10,000 people every year. Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease. The larvae of the parasite are carried by freshwater gastropods. Released into the water, these larvae infiltrate the human body and never leave. The adult worms live in the blood vessels and lay eggs. Eventually completely degrading vital organs.
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2. Sales: 550 deaths per year
The jostling for a Zara jumper, specials on electronics or something as banal as a tub of Nutella is said to cause 550 deaths per year worldwide. Crushed, jostled, trampled, the victims of consumer madness (sales and Black Friday for instance) are 55 times more numerous than those of sharks.
3. Tornadoes: 300 to 400 deaths per year
Wind vortexes have multiplied in recent years with global warming. According to the World Meteorological Organization, tornadoes kill 30 to 40 times more than sharks. Half of the victims are in the United States.
4. Falling out of bed: 450 deaths in the United States per year
Some people who actually fall out of bed never get to get up again. This fact is not as funny when you realise it affects mostly infants and elderly people. Death is usually caused by head injuries or asphyxiation caused by pressure on the neck when pinned against a bed rail.
5. Aeroplane: 1,078 deaths per year
This data is an average of the number of deaths by civil aviation since the year 2000: 1078 deaths per year for 234 accidents. This data, given by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), stops in 2017 but on a score sadly higher than the average: 1936 deaths for 348 accidents.
6. Stalactites: 100 deaths per year in Russia
It is better not to pass under the roofs with huge stalactites hanging. Especially when temperatures rise a little and weaken the grip of these ice spikes. Their fall can be fatal for whoever passes underneath. In Russia alone, it kills 10 times more than sharks in the world.
7. Selfies: 50 deaths per year
The study has just been released, conducted by seven Spanish scientists. Since 2008, no less than 359 people have died while taking a selfie. And since January 1, 2021, it is one death per week. Vertiginous falls, accidents in transport and drowning were the three main causes. Many of these deaths are the result of tourists taking risks in unfamiliar terrain, wanting to take the "deadliest" shot possible.
The shark: 10 deaths per year
So the shark, with its ferocious appetite and its sharp teeth, how many humans lose their life of a result of them each year? Compared to other animals, not that much. Snakes are responsible for an average of 100,000 deaths per year, scorpions for 5,000, elephants for 600, bees for 400, lions for 200.
And the jellyfish that swarm beaches, where sharks are more feared, kill 100 people per year. Finally, the shark, only commits 10 fatalities per year.
