How many people die from flu each year?

For a year, the world has been obsessively pouring in news and statistics about COVID-19. Although cases of SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus, apparently appeared under a rapidly growing vaccination effort, there is another story hidden just below the surface: the flu almost disappeared this winter.

Last fall, epidemiologists warned of a “twindemy” of COVID-19 and seasonal flu – and although cases of the former virus exploded this winter, increased flu vaccinations, universal masking and social distance appear to be spreading the latter.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is still flu season in the US, which lasts from October to May. And like COVID-19, flu can cause unpleasant symptoms, have persistent side effects and even be fatal – but in the last few months there have been shockingly few confirmed cases of flu. Here’s everything you need to know about the flu mortality rate, plus its spread this year.

How many people die from flu each year?

The answer is a bit complicated: the CDC does not have an exact count of the number of people who die from the flu each year. Instead, the federal agency is developing estimates based on the number of confirmed hospitalizations due to flu.

For this reason, it is difficult to compare deaths from influenza to those of COVID-19, which are actual documented deaths, says Mark Hicar, MD, Ph.D., associate professor of infectious diseases at Buffalo University in New York. In fact, COVID-19 deaths are detected by confirmed cases, “but there will still be a number of unconfirmed cases, so the deaths due to COVID-19 are likely to be higher than reported,” says Dr. Hicar. To date, nearly 30 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19, resulting in more than 529,000 deaths, according to the latest CDC data.

Compared to the 2019-2020 flu season, for example, the CDC estimated that more than 38 million became ill with the flu, resulting in 400,000 hospitalizations and 22,000 deaths. It is slightly lower than the 2018-2019 season (34,200 deaths) and significantly less than the 2017-2018 season (61,000 deaths).

How many total flu-related deaths are expected for the 2020-2021 season?

So far, about 450 people have died from the flu this season, according to the CDC. Influenza cases are also far off: between the end of September and early March, only 1,500 positive cases were identified in the United States. Influenza peaked in the first week of January and has been steadily declining ever since.

It’s not exactly a surprise that deaths are lower this year, says William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. The southern hemisphere (which is summer when we are winter) also had an ‘extraordinarily mild flu season’.

The same disease prevention practices we have mastered to slow the spread of COVID-19 have also affected influenza transmission, says David Cennimo, MD, assistant professor of infectious disease for children in medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Those lower rates are a by-product of efforts such as masking, hand washing and social distance.

Influenza deaths also “depend on how many people get the flu vaccine,” says Richard Watkins, MD, MD, professor of infectious diseases and professor of medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University. Millions more doses than usual were distributed this winter, indicating a higher rate of vaccination against the COVID-19 vaccine.

How to protect yourself from the flu

If you have not yet received your flu shot, Dr. Schaffner to do so ASAP as it takes time to build up immunity. The flu season lasts until May. “It’s not too late to be vaccinated,” he says.

The following precautions can also protect you from the flu:

• Avoid close contact with sick people.
• Wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds with soap and water.
• If water and soap are not available, use a hand sanitizer on alcohol.
• Do not touch your eyes, nose and mouth.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that touch.

Methods that help prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as wearing a mask when you are in the vicinity of people who are not in your household and taking social distance, can also help you prevent colds, flu and other respiratory illnesses. prevent. “The impact of the flu on deaths in the US could possibly be blunted by our behavior to try to avoid COVID-19,” says Dr. Schaffner.

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