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NEW YORK (AP) – February is usually the peak of influenza season, with doctors’ offices and hospitals filled with suffering patients. But not this year.
The flu has all but disappeared from the United States, with reports reaching levels far below anything seen in decades.
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Experts say the measures put in place to fend off the coronavirus – mask wearing, social distancing and virtual schooling – have been an important factor in preventing a flu and COVID-19 ‘twindemic’. An effort to get more people vaccinated against the flu has probably helped too, as have fewer travelers, they say.
However, flu-related hospitalizations are only a small fraction of their situation, even in a very mild season, said Brammer, who oversees CDC monitoring of the virus.
Flu death data for the entire U.S. population is difficult to compile quickly, but CDC officials keep a running count of child deaths. One pediatric flu death has been reported so far this season, up from 92 at the same time during the flu season last year.
“Many parents will tell you that this year their kids are as healthy as they’ve ever been, because they’re not swimming in the germ pool at school or daycare like they are. were the previous years, ”said Mick.
Some doctors say they’ve even stopped sending samples for testing because they don’t think the flu is present. Nonetheless, many labs use a “multiplex test” developed by the CDC that checks samples for both coronavirus and influenza, Brammer said.
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More than 190 million doses of the flu vaccine have been distributed this season, but the number of infections is so low that it’s difficult for the CDC to make its annual calculation of the vaccine’s effectiveness, Brammer said. There just isn’t enough data, she says.
It also calls into question the planning of the flu shot for next season. Such work usually begins by checking which influenza strains are circulating in the world and predicting which of them are likely to predominate in the coming year.
“But there aren’t a lot of (flu) viruses to look at,” Brammer said.
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