The Flu Vanished During Covid. What Will Its Return Look Like?

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SummerMadness

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The Flu Vanished During Covid. What Will Its Return Look Like?
There have been fewer influenza cases in the United States this flu season than in any on record. About 2,000 cases have been recorded since late September, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In recent years, the average number of cases over the same period was about 206,000.

As measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus were implemented around the country in March 2020, influenza quickly disappeared, and it still has not returned. The latest flu season, which normally would have run until next month, essentially never happened.

This makes sense, our immune systems have some experience with influenza and steps like social distancing and masking further mitigate the spread. In contrast, coronavirus is new to our bodies, so it spreads far more easily.

I wonder if it might be beneficial to treat flu season as a masking season, that would likely put a tremendous dent in the yearly flu season.
 

expos4ever

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I am on record as a huge defender of standard public health edicts - masks, distancing, vaccines.

But I do wonder if masking as a long-term strategy might backfire - is it not the case that our immune systems need to be exposed to some nasties in order to remain in fighting trim?
 
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Nithavela

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I am on record as a huge defender of standard public health edicts - masks, distancing, vaccines.

But I do wonder if masking as a long-term strategy might backfire - is it not the case that our immune systems need to be exposed to some nasties in order to remain in fighting trim?
The immune system gets plenty of training without the flu.
 
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Norbert L

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The flu itself is subject to change and there has always been the potential for a deadlier strain than that of the Spanish Flu of 1918.
Spanish flu - Wikipedia

Edit:

It just occurred to me, one comment I heard on the local news from a scientist is: the current social distancing and a certain level of quarantine practices must of been very effective against the transmission the yearly flu virus.
 
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Halbhh

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The Flu Vanished During Covid. What Will Its Return Look Like?


This makes sense, our immune systems have some experience with influenza and steps like social distancing and masking further mitigate the spread. In contrast, coronavirus is new to our bodies, so it spreads far more easily.

I wonder if it might be beneficial to treat flu season as a masking season, that would likely put a tremendous dent in the yearly flu season.
Well, one speculative theory I saw was the idea that when people go maskless again and we enter the next flu season, it could be a worse than average flu season. But it's a good point that even for that speculative idea, if many are still wearing masks come November/Dec to such places as to grocery stores, then it would put some amount of dent in that transmission. But another main way of transmission will be restaurants, so grocery store partial masking may not be sufficient to make a dent then.
 
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Hammster

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The Flu Vanished During Covid. What Will Its Return Look Like?


This makes sense, our immune systems have some experience with influenza and steps like social distancing and masking further mitigate the spread. In contrast, coronavirus is new to our bodies, so it spreads far more easily.

I wonder if it might be beneficial to treat flu season as a masking season, that would likely put a tremendous dent in the yearly flu season.
The flu “disappeared” because the cases were reported as Covid.
 
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renniks

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The Flu Vanished During Covid. What Will Its Return Look Like?


This makes sense, our immune systems have some experience with influenza and steps like social distancing and masking further mitigate the spread. In contrast, coronavirus is new to our bodies, so it spreads far more easily.

I wonder if it might be beneficial to treat flu season as a masking season, that would likely put a tremendous dent in the yearly flu season.
If you believe that the flu really vanished, I have a some ocean front property in Arizona for you. More like everyone with the flu was counted as having covid.
 
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Speedwell

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If you believe that the flu really vanished, I have a some ocean front property in Arizona for you. More like everyone with the flu was counted as having covid.
The same claim as Hammster made, again without substantiation.
 
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Nithavela

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You presented your post as if it was a fact, not as what you think. But as others have said, you can post what you think, be prepared to substantiate that claim.
Being seen as a person that can't be trusted is also a possibility.
 
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Hammster

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You presented your post as if it was a fact, not as what you think. But as others have said, you can post what you think, be prepared to substantiate that claim.
I just read through six articles on the subject from trusted sources (CDC, Hopkins, etc) and you’d think that they would be solid on their info. But when you hear words such as “likely” and “possibly”, then you should start to doubt what they are saying.

One thing is for certain, though. The flu and Covid are reported differently, so the numbers won’t be as accurate across the board.
 
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Speedwell

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I can get you a really good deal on that oceanfront property in Arizona.
Putting aside real estate deals for a moment, you and Hammster made a claim that if true, is very important. If flu cases are being falsely reported as Covid, it would be irresponsible of you not to tell us how you found out about it.
 
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renniks

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Putting aside real estate deals for a moment, you and Hammster made a claim that if true, is very important. If flu cases are being falsely reported as Covid, it would be irresponsible of you not to tell us how you found out about it.
People not mixing could cause a drop but not as big a drop as has been happening. Another theory is that the flu is the less dominant virus.
They claim other respiratory illnesses are down too... probably people are afraid to report them for fear of having to quit working if they test positive for covid. Then there's this:

"The vast majority of people who contract the flu never get tested or go to the doctor, so typically case counts actually only represent a faction of the flu in the state at any time. In a normal flu season, it is estimated that 5% to 20% of Pennsylvanians, or 600,000 to 2.4 million people, get the flu each year and 120 to 2,000 die from flu-related complications."
 
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Speedwell

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People not mixing could cause a drop but not as big a drop as has been happening. Another theory is that the flu is the less dominant virus.
They claim other respiratory illnesses are down too... probably people are afraid to report them for fear of having to quit working if they test positive for covid. Then there's this:

"The vast majority of people who contract the flu never get tested or go to the doctor, so typically case counts actually only represent a faction of the flu in the state at any time. In a normal flu season, it is estimated that 5% to 20% of Pennsylvanians, or 600,000 to 2.4 million people, get the flu each year and 120 to 2,000 die from flu-related complications."
That's all very well, but the claim was that known flu cases are being falsely reported by medical authorities as Covid.
 
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SummerMadness

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There is nothing wrong with speculation, but there is a test for flu and COVID. My friend runs a lab doing such tests and was certifying more labs to do COVID tests earlier this year. They're not just calling flu cases COVID. And judging by the big difference in fatality rates, it would seem odd that flu would be classified as COVID. Are you now arguing that this is a more lethal flu year? It's denials for the sake of denialism.
 
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