Can Coronavirus Lighten the Flu Season?

Among the many questions that public health professionals face are some that can determine the next evolution of the coronavirus pandemic: what happens when COVID-19 encounters the flu? ?

The coronavirus has already killed more than 170,000 Americans in six months. The flu season usually lasts from October to April and usually kills tens of thousands of people. If both viruses start to plague Americans at the same time, what could create a CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield recently called “The worst fall from a public health perspective I have never experienced”

But in reality, no one knows what will happen as autumn approaches. The flu season can be yet another part of a pandemic-affected life in strange and unexpected ways.

Experts say that the social distance measures and widespread closure of companies that are being caused by COVID-19 have reduced the spread of the flu and, as it happened in other countries, more than typical seasons. The epidemic may be even less frequent. However, I am worried that if the regulations are relaxed, the silver lining will not last.

“If things are going in the right direction, it could come back up, which may actually coincide with the middle of the flu season. In fact, there might have been an increase in infections from that,” says Riverside. Dr. Jeffrey Leng University Hospital System, Outpatient Medical Director. “We need to do as much as possible to prevent the flu cases possible with traditional tools.”

Reopening school can be especially risky. Although children appear to be less susceptible to severe illness from COVID-19, children are particularly vulnerable to the flu. The virus is widespread at school and children take it home.

Leung and other experts recommend getting a flu shot to reduce your chances of getting the flu and reduce the severity of the illness in people who have it. They also advise that people stick to obligatory masking and social distance measures to control COVID-19.

“I’m most scared to know what the interactions are if I’m infected with both influenza and COVID-19,” said Dr. Alexander Lee, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the LA Care Health Plan. Stated. , The nation’s largest public health plan. “Combining COVID and flu is probably bad news.”

Several studies in China and the United States identified influenza and COVID-19 patients, but the results were mixed. For some, the patients appeared sicker than COVID patients without influenza. Some didn’t find a difference.

If a patient comes to the hospital with both infections, doctors may have virtually the same symptoms and may not be able to diagnose both diseases immediately. If the condition is found, little is known about how to treat such patients. There are drugs that reduce the severity of influenza infections, Drugs that do the same for COVID-19, But the drugs are different and may not mix well.

When the coronavirus pandemic started in the United States earlier this year, the flu season was declining. Influenza usually peaks in the United States in December and January.

However, the flu season occurs during the winter in the Southern Hemisphere. It coincides with the summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Experience here shows what flu season is typically seen in the north, starting in autumn.

However, by 2020, there will be few cases of influenza in countries such as Australia and Brazil. Experts say that measures of limited air travel and social distances may have reduced the import of the disease into those countries and their spread to the country.

There is also the idea that the coronavirus itself may have solidified the scaffold for influenza. This means that you can only control one respiratory virus at a time. Experts say the phenomenon could theoretically work in both directions, but they don’t rely on it.

“Usually when one is present, the other is not-at least that’s a doctrine,” said Dr. James Cherry, a UCLA infectious disease specialist. “Perhaps the flu could somehow weaken the coronavirus, but I think this is August and it’s months away, so everything about it would be a guess.”

Experts quickly dispel the assumption that the United States will rarely see the flu just because it was an Australian experience. It also noted that Australia was able to keep coronavirus deaths very low, while the United States did not.

Cherry also warned that some influenza strains may be more dangerous than others. Researchers recently reported an outbreak of swine flu that could infect humans and cause a pandemic. It makes the problem even more complicated-and deadly.

“I think the important thing is to keep our fingers crossed,” he said.

Even in the normal flu season, many people die of the flu. According to the CDC, the United States killed about 34,200 people in the United States during the 2018-19 season, three-quarters of whom were over 65. This age group is also particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.

To prevent these deaths, experts have widely recommended influenza vaccination. The best times are September and October. Influenza is the most dangerous for children, pregnant women, and the elderly, but vaccines are recommended for anyone older than 6 months.

Like COVID-19, it protects others by keeping young people from getting sick. Young, healthy people who have been vaccinated against the flu reduce their chances of getting themselves infected and less likely to spread the virus to those who may not recover quickly.

“Everyone is waiting for a COVID vaccine. The problem with the flu is that we have a vaccine. We have a reliable and effective vaccine,” says Kaiser Permanente, a childhood infection. Said the specialist, Dr. David Bronstein.

According to the CDC, the vaccine was 29% effective during the 2018-19 influenza season, with just under half of the American population vaccinated.

These numbers may seem small, but they believe in the true value of vaccination, Bronstein said. This shot not only reduces the chances of people getting sick, but also reduces the severity of the illness, thus reducing the likelihood of hospitalization.

The CDC estimates that during the 2018 season, the influenza vaccine prevented not only 3,500 deaths, but also 58,000 hospitalizations.

Experts say that if the coronavirus surges this winter, removing patients from hospitals can make a difference. According to Bronstein, influenza vaccination can be seen as a tool to protect COVID-19 resources, resulting in fewer treatments and higher mortality.

“I don’t think COVID will disappear soon,” he said.

Many doctors said they were worried that COVID-19 would cause them to go to the clinic or pharmacy, and thus people might be vaccinated against the flu. By the pandemic of COVID-19, Drops of people seeking regular medical careIncludes planned childhood vaccination cuts as parents avoid clinics.

After all, the flu season can fluctuate unevenly, like the pandemic itself. Brandon Brown, an epidemiologist at UC Riverside, is focusing not only on low-income people, but also on people of color.

At the beginning of the flu season, essential workers already exposed to coronavirus at work are at risk of getting two viruses. And those who can stay home, or who may otherwise have the flu, are less likely to have the flu or COVID-19.

“We just close the gap here,” Brown said.