Maybe we don't need to panic about EVERYTHING

[dreamshark]

 Of all the expert panic triggers associated with the COVID pandemic, the one I've been most perplexed by is the dire warnings about "Coronavirus and the Flu: A Looming Double Threat!" The idea seems to be that Flu Season is terrible and COVID is terrible so if you put them together it will be TWICE as terrible. Admittedly, I have always had a hard time flying into a panic about the flu, but don't we know now how to protect against respiratory viruses? Flu is spread the same way as COVID, after all. If we're taking measures against one we are taking measures against the other. 

Well, sure enough. Flu season has already happened in the southern hemisphere, and this year "The flu never came."  In fact, there was so little evidence of influenza this year that there has been speculation that some strains of flu may have died out (as I was hoping might happen with the common cold). 

 

Comments

[quadong]

Isn't the concern, roughly, that people are avoiding all kinds of in-person medical care because of COVID, and so won't get their flu shot? I mean, I'm not panicking either, but it seems like a valid point.

[dreamshark]

I don't know, is that the concern? This same article suggests that there was unusually high demand for the flu virus in South Africa, but for some reason gives most of the credit for averting the flu to "the continued implementation of personal protective measures." The flu vaccine is not, to put it mildly, an especially effective vaccine, but that seems a little harsh.

There is also
a little bit of evidence that flu shots and other routine vaccinations may reduce the risk of contracting COVID, presumably by revving up the immune system. So there are two possible ways that having flu and COVID coincide could result in lower infection rates for both of them.

[maruad]

I am hoping much of the social distancing and closing of borders was put a damper on the spread of influenza this year.