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I knew quite a few pretty well, called them friends: they're all dead but one.

Some of them kept it well hidden, till the HIV struck (far less an issue now), or they O.D.ed. I guess you might know one or two but maybe not as friends, but as familiar faces or friends of friends.

As to the size of the problem, I can not tell if it's the same or larger or less, since my observations are based on my age group (old) and survivor bias. I have seen two towns suffer under the epedemic it was in Europe in the 80's and 90's. These same towns now do not display the same issues with the 13 to 30 year old zombies.

The issues I read about in the US seem rather distant to me here in Europe.