Despite fears that flu would combine with covid-19 to create a so-called ‘twindemie’, this flu season was mild.
Allegheny County has so far reported no flu-related deaths, three hospitalizations and 180 cases. This is a significant drop from last year’s 12 deaths, 115 hospitalizations and more than 10,000 cases.
“It’s not even a mild flu season. It is like no season, ”said dr. Richard Zimmerman, one of the best flu experts in the country, said. A professor of family medicine and public health at the University of Pittsburgh and a practicing physician, Zimmerman, leads PittVax, a longtime study for the development of flu activity and vaccine efficacy.
“We should be very grateful not to have a twin anemia,” Zimmerman said. “The last thing we needed was a bad flu year on top of all that covetousness.”
At Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison, there has been only one flu case so far this season, said Dr. William Bailey, chief medical officer at Allegheny Health Network and an active physician in the emergency department, said.
“It’s probably as close to a non-existent flu season as I’ve ever seen in my life,” Bailey said. “We have had very few cases. I think we are probably about 98% lower than last year’s business. ”
The same trends apply to Excela Health, said Kathleen Rosatti, director of clinical outcome management, patient safety and infection control.
“This time last year, we saw a total of 900 patients,” Rosatti said. “At the moment, we barely have. We have a single digit. ‘
Amber Liggett, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said low numbers of flu continue worldwide, with 2,748 laboratory-confirmed cases throughout the Commonwealth. During the 2019-20 flu season, the DOH recorded more than 130,000 cases across the country.
She said Pennsylvania has reported 34 flu-related hospitalizations and 14 deaths during the current flu season.
“The percentage of outpatient visits associated with flu-like illness was low and is still below the state epidemic threshold,” Liggett said.
Health officials said the mitigation measures to curb the spread of covid-19 are likely to be key to this mild flu season.
“The precautions taken to prevent the spread of covid are the same precautions that are recommended to prevent the spread of flu,” said Amie Downs, a spokeswoman for Allegheny County. She attributes the province’s mild flu season to basic soothing measures such as coughing and sneezing, frequent hand washing and wearing masks.
Covid-19 and influenza are both respiratory viruses and can therefore both be treated with the same mitigation measures, Zimmerman explained.
“These viruses are all transmitted in similar mechanisms,” he said. “The mitigation measures have a significant impact because they are transmitted by all respiratory viruses.”
Rosatti agreed that the mitigation of covid-19 will reduce the number of flu cases.
“Of course, everything we set up for covid – wearing masks, practicing social distance, hand hygiene” all made a difference, “she said.
Knowing that mitigation measures had been put in place to combat covid-19, he said he was not surprised to see a mild flu season this year.
“What we get is what you would expect,” he said. “To stay out of touch, to wear face masks, to remove, everything we are currently doing for the coronavirus, doing what you would expect, also for every other respiratory virus.”
Zimmerman noted that fewer international trips this year – another symptom of the covid-19 pandemic – have also helped limit the spread of flu. Flu cases often come from South America and Australia, he said. Less global travel means fewer opportunities to spread the flu worldwide.
“We have not seen much flu internationally,” he added.
Although much emphasis has been placed on flu shot this year, flu vaccines have probably played only a small role in this extraordinarily mild flu season, Zimmerman said.
“It may have made a contribution, but I think the mitigation measures played a lot,” he said. “I’m sure no more than half of the adults have been vaccinated.”
About 53% of adults received a flu vaccine this season, according to data from the CDC.
Although the flu season so far has been particularly mild, it is impossible to predict what the last months of the season could bring.
“Influenza is unpredictable and its activity depends on many factors, including the consistency in the use of mitigation actions with covid-19,” Liggett said.
As long as people continue to adhere to the mitigation measures, Bailey said, the rest of the flu season will likely remain mild.
“I think with flu and coronavirus, our risk is complacency,” he said. “Things seem to be improving at the moment, but we need to be vigilant.”
Julia Felton is an author of the Tribune Review staff. You can contact Julia at 724-226-7724, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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