to similarly respond in one sentence, you appear to be ignoring the cross correlation of senescence and manifested risk factors that evolve from senescence.

sure, it's not the whole picture. no one said it was. that seems a straw man in terms of this claim: "Your assumptions for why flu is supposedly high risk for the elderly are wrong."

i think it is your read of my assumptions that are wrong. i never claimed it was the ONLY reason. i claimed it was A reason. (hence my claim that you misunderstood my point) the issues you raise are simply the substrate upon which OAS is overlaid.

ceteris paribus, age is still a risk factor. it's ~100X for covid at 85 vs 25 even with no comorbidities. and the very fact of senesce is a cause of such comorbid risk factors, so the two interact in non-independent fashion.

this seems like some sort of hot button for you.

perhaps before making aggressive claims and "taking offense" you might instead seek more productive engagement. you seem oddly aggrieved here for one who has been taking by far the more aggressive tone. go back and read it again. you may not be coming off in the manner in which you intend.