PA reports first death of 2020-21 influenza season, which is now underway amid COVID-19 pandemic

Pennsylvania reported the first death of the 2020-2021 influenza season this week, and health officials urge residents to get vaccinated as the flu begins to escalate amid a worsening COVID pandemic -19.

The state has not disclosed the county of residence of the person who died from the flu. They were between 50 and 64 years old and their deaths were included in last week’s weekly report, the health department said in a press release.

At least 383 cases of the flu have been confirmed by laboratory tests since the end of September, the health department said. In the past five years, Pennsylvania has seen the flu season range from 30,000 confirmed cases to 130,000.

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Seasonal respiratory illness comes at a time when a pandemic virus, also respiratory, is reaching record levels in Keystone state. Pennsylvania has reported thousands of new coronavirus cases per day for more than a month, far exceeding the worst days of spring when cases exceeded nearly 2,000 per day. More than 4,700 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Wednesday alone.

This presents some challenges because the symptoms of the flu and COVID-19 coronavirus disease can be similar and tests may be needed to tell them apart.

And both can be dangerous. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says COVID-19 appears to spread more easily than the flu, can cause more serious illness in some patients, and may take longer to appear.

Viruses themselves may not be a direct cause of death, but are contributing factors. Influenza and COVID-19 can lead to life-threatening complications such as pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

But preventive measures can also be similar. Steps taken to prevent COVID-19 – wearing masks, keeping society away, cleaning surfaces, washing hands frequently – should also help slow the spread of the flu, local experts told lehighvalleylive.com in August as they envisioned flu season.

Getting the flu shot could prevent a potentially serious double infection.

“It is more important than ever to get the flu shot amid the COVID-19 pandemic to protect yourself, your loved ones and the healthcare workers who care for people with respiratory illnesses from the flu,” he said Dr Rachel Levine said in this week’s press release. “We know that people who get the flu after being vaccinated have a milder case and don’t get sick until those who don’t get the flu shot.”

Here are some similarities and differences between the novel coronavirus and the flu, according to the CDC. Both can cause mild to severe illness.

A test by a healthcare professional may be needed to make a positive distinction between the two viral infections.

Both can exhibit these symptoms:

• Fever / chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath
• Tired
• Sore throat
• Runny or stuffy nose
• Muscle pain or stiffness
• Headache
• Vomiting and diarrhea (more common in children)

Influenza:

• Will show symptoms one to four days after infection.
• Is contagious about a day before symptoms appear and usually remains contagious for three to four days, possibly up to a week.
• Has a higher risk of complications for healthy children.
• Has a recovery time of a few days to two weeks, except for complications.
• Can be treated with approved antiviral drugs or avoided with a flu shot.

COVID-19[FEMALE:[FEMININE:

• Has other possible symptoms, including change or loss of taste or smell.
• Show symptoms between two and 14 days of infection, usually around five days.
• Is contagious about two days before symptoms appear and may remain contagious for 10 days.
• May spread more rapidly among groups of people, resulting in “mass media events”.
• May lead to multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C.
• No vaccine available and treatments are being explored.

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Steve Novak can be reached at [email protected].