As Covid-19 continues to increase in the U.S., with a record number of more than 4,000 virus deaths on Friday, good news came from the flu data.
During a typical flu season, the number of people who get the flu will only start to rise, with the peak usually coming in February. Yet so far there have been only 0.2% of the 400,000 swabs for flu, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the same time last year, the positivity rate was 13%.
As hospitals across the country are close to or near Covid-19 patients – approximately 132,000 people are currently hospitalized in Covid – the minimal presence of flu is a blessing. At least 38 million Americans had the virus during the 2019-20 season. Although flu is less deadly than Covid-19, it can strain the health care system during a bad year. Last year, 400,000 people were admitted to hospital with the flu and 22,000 died from it.
“Covid is causing incredible strain on the healthcare system in many parts of the country,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University. ‘Even though we have a moderate to average [flu] season, we will all be overwhelmed at the moment. ”
Instead, ‘we’ve had a very mild flu season to date,’ “Schaffner said.
Several factors have played a role in dampening the flu this season.
The virus usually strikes the northern hemisphere after spreading to the southern hemisphere, experiencing its flu season from June to August. But the flu season in 2020 in the south was virtually non-existent.
Public health experts believe that measures in the southern hemisphere to prevent the spread of Covid-19 also help to stop the spread of flu. Although influenza is also a respiratory virus, it is not as contagious as Covid-19, so mask and social removal are more effective at disrupting the spread of influenza than the spread of Covid-19. The low number of cases, coupled with the decrease in travel between the northern and southern hemispheres, filled well for the flu season in the north.
Americans are still being asked to get the flu vaccine to reduce the chance of a dreaded “twindemy” of flu and Covid-19. More than 192 million doses of flu vaccine were distributed by the US by the end of December, according to the CDC, the highest number of doses distributed in a single flu season.
It appears that most of the doses were used. According to the CDC, more adults in the U.S. received the vaccine this season compared to recent years. About 53% of adults received flu vaccines. Around the same time last year, 42% of adults were vaccinated, while 48% were vaccinated by the end of the last flu season.
Schaffner said schools taking measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 – extensive cleansing, masks and social distance and to keep class – probably also played an important role in stopping the spread of the flu. Children shed the flu virus more than adults and for longer periods of time, making it easy to spread to family members and teachers who can spread it to other adults.
“Children are much more isolated, so this distribution mechanism is effectively closed,” he said.
Although there is much to celebrate about the low flu numbers, the US is not out of the woods yet: there is still a chance that the virus could see a surge, especially since millions of Americans traveled during the holidays.
But Schaffner said there is cautious optimism that the U.S. has avoided the worst of a ‘twin anemia’.
“We remain very vigilant for the possibility, but so far I think we are at a record pace for a low flu season.”