Considering the flu season, colds, and lack of COVID

Do you remember last year’s flu season?

Yeah, me too. There was not.

OK, OK, so we had some sort of thing. But it was small. That is, it’s really small. Seven were hospitalized and two died, similar to the 71 cases identified throughout the state.

“Last year, there really wasn’t a flu season,” says Thai White, Head of Infection Prevention and Management at Monument Health here in Rapid City. “It was almost nonexistent.”

Of course, the two are still dead. And for those people and their families, influenza is a life-changing and painful reality, even during the lesser seasons.

why? Well, some of it is the nature of mercury in infectious diseases, says White. However, there are some logical conclusions to be reached. And they are all about COVID and COVID prevention methods.

“I think most of it is that what people were doing for COVID actually worked very well in the prevention of the flu. Wear a mask, keep a social distance, and wash your hands properly. Also, don’t touch your face, just think about what your hands touched. “

Believe me when I tell you, I was strict in getting my COVID vaccine and booster as soon as I qualified and following those COVID protocols. I was also vaccinated against the flu. I have been vaccinated against the flu for at least 30 years. And I have had the flu only once.

Oh yeah, I knew it right away. It was more than a cold. And tests at the clinic showed that.

However, it was a year when influenza vaccination was not properly prescribed for certain influenza strains that passed through South Dakota. Or maybe it was another strain that came later in the flu season. I can’t remember either.

Vaccines are not perfect. But they are essential. They prevent illness and save lives.

Never miss a cold

But let’s get back to COVID prevention technology and its effectiveness. I haven’t had a cold for over 2 years. I can’t remember how much it has increased. However, it was only a few months ago that I started taking COVID prophylaxis two years ago this month.

So, while slowly and carefully mitigating COVID prophylaxis, I intend to maintain some of those methods in my daily life, at least to some extent, to reduce the likelihood of colds and other infections.

That makes sense.

Last year wasn’t really the flu season, but this year the situation has changed. And at first, they changed in amazing ways.

By this year, many, if not most, had adequate COVID prophylaxis. Most people, with or without vaccination, seem to have stopped wearing masks and stopped keeping serious social distances. I don’t know what they did about hand washing and disinfection. But I think that was also depressed.

And, at least early in the season, the flu has returned with revenge. Fortunately, it settled down after that.

“It was a strange year for the flu,” says White. “In South Dakota cases, we peaked in early December and headed for a record year of influenza, with just fewer cases.”

According to data from the South Dakota Department of Health, the typical peak of the state’s flu season over the past five years was the third week of February. Between 2016 and 2021, the state confirmed an average of 6,478 confirmed cases of influenza, 631 were hospitalized and 39 died.

This year, there were 8,826 confirmed cases of influenza, 183 hospitalizations, and 13 deaths in the state. The peak of confirmed cases was in the fourth week of December, almost two months earlier than the recent average.

Consider COVID and influenza seasonality

And hey, when it comes to the seasonality of the flu, why do we have the flu season and not the COVID season? Would it be great, or at least not useful, if COVID began to appear like the flu in late fall or early winter and was almost gone by spring as a substantial health threat?

Instead, COVID seems to be present all year round, albeit with some decline during the summer. Some kind. It didn’t slow down much in the summer of a month and a half following the 2020 Sturges rally, but as I remember. It spread and headed for a brutal surge in late fall and early winter of the year.

Regarding seasonal flu and COVID, White says COVID is seasonal, but it wasn’t like flu.

“When you’re in a pandemic, the number of active cases in the community is very high, and it’s far more contagious as it lasts throughout the summer,” he says.

Still, summer is quite different from other times when COVID infections worsen. For example, the first major surge in delta variants was in October and November 2020. Since then, the surge in Omicron variants this season has occurred in early winter and has surged since the beginning of the year. However, it has been steadily depressed since then.

“Probably three things are involved,” says White. “One is the way we live in winter and autumn, the colder temperatures. That’s why we’re more inside. We’re closer and more inside other people. Being around, you have closer contact with more people and are more likely to get infected.

“Then two, and perhaps even bigger, is the humidity level, and the difference between cold, dry and moist, hot air. It plays a big role,” says White. “These respiratory viruses work much better in cold, dry air. With warm air and 80% humidity, the virus will not last that long outside human cells.”

And three?

“This isn’t a seasonal issue, but because of the short autumn and winter days, we don’t get much vitamin D. We may not be resistant to fighting viruses and other pathogens,” White said. To tell. “And, of course, when it gets dark, you’re more likely to be inside and you’ll be in contact with others again.”

White reiterates that COVID is much more contagious than influenza. This was true for early strains, especially for Omicron 1. This indicates that Omicron 2 has just begun to cross the state and is even more contagious.

“It’s not a measles level of how infectious it is, but it’s certainly more than influenza and more than other coronaviruses, such as the common cold,” says White.

The good news so far about both Omicrons is that vaccines appear to be effective against them. This does not guarantee that the vaccinated one will not be infected. Breakthrough infections occur with a certain regularity, but are usually mild.

Despite breakthrough infections, vaccines do their main job well

According to White, vaccinated people can get the virus and should not avoid or lose confidence in the vaccine. Vaccines provide protection against COVID infections, but what matters is how well they work to prevent serious illness and death. And in that respect they are doing very well. Very, very well.

“You can still get infected, but if you’re infected and not vaccinated, you’re 30 times more likely to be hospitalized and die,” White says. “It was even higher during Delta, and I was really sick and died more than 63 times without vaccination.

“The biggest thing I can get out of is that the vaccine is still working. It can still save lives every day.”

When he preaches the message to me, he preaches to the choir. I believe in vaccines. This is to prevent infection in the first place and prevent serious or fatal illness in the event of a breakthrough infection.

The epoch-making case is, of course, the flu. The flu vaccine is not 100% effective and is more effective than the COVID vaccine. But both save lives.

And White says working to change them to meet the demand for vaccines and COVID strains will be the key to a healthier future. COVID doesn’t go anywhere right away. And it is constantly working on change to present new challenges.

“Given that so many variants are out there all over the world and no more variants are coming, I think we’re crazy about it,” says White.

One day, infectious disease research and vaccine development may provide one vaccine for all coronaviruses, including the common cold, “White says. “It feels like they have to keep adjusting their vaccines until we get something like that.”

And I don’t know you, but I will continue to use those vaccines as directed by medical professionals. Then stick to common sense measures to reduce your chances of getting COVID or other infections, such as wearing a mask or keeping a distance when you think it is appropriate.

If I can help it, I certainly don’t want to catch COVID. Or the flu.

And what do you know? It was good that I didn’t catch a cold.