Yankton Press & Dakotan. March 9, 2021.
Editorial: The Influenza Season That Really Wasn’t
With March here and our COVID winter waning, let’s talk about what happened to the flu season.
In short, it practically didn’t happen at all.
Not completely, of course, but the influenza numbers have been so low this season that it’s almost impossible to look at it as anything other than a terrific upside of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been reporting for weeks that influenza numbers this season are running “unusually low,” but in fact, cases have been markedly down from past years. In fact, “this is the lowest flu season we’ve had on record,” according to Lynnette Brammer of the CDC.
One amazing statistic published by the CDC last week indicated that, so far this season, there has been just one pediatric death in the U.S. due to influenza. Last year, there were about 200.
Obviously, this is no small thing. Influenza can generate up to 800,000 hospitalizations and 60,000 deaths each season in the U.S. This year, it’s practically nonexistent.
It isn’t just the United States seeing this. For instance, Canadian media reported Monday that there “have been so few cases of influenza this year that Canadian public health officials still can’t declare the official start of flu season,” based on set criteria used to make that designation.
It’s fair to say that the COVID-19 safety precautions that have been drilled into us the past year have had a huge effect. Things like staying socially distant, washing hands, covering your coughs and wearing face masks were bound to bolster our defense against influenza.
Another likely factor is the push made since last fall to get people vaccinated against the flu, citing it as one way to keep your body’s defenses up and to avoid exposure to COVID-19. As a result, more than 190 million flu shots have been administered this season. Oddly, it’s difficult to determine the efficacy of this year’s flu vaccine to prevalent strains because of the other defensive measures people have taken, which have limited exposure.
This may lead to one negative consequence about the lack of activity this flu season: It may make it more difficult for researchers to formulate a flu vaccine for next season. Scientists usually gauge what flu strains are dominant this season and use that information to devise what will be a greater threat next season. “But there’s not a lot of (flu) viruses to look at,” Brammer admitted.
Nevertheless, this historically light flu season offers a profound insight into the importance of the actions we embrace to stay healthy, especially when numerous threats are around. Forget mask mandates and whatever else: Simply choosing to take precautions can have a big impact in how you fight off things like the flu or a cold. These may seem like smaller skirmishes compared to the COVID-19 war, but we now have a much better idea of the best way to defend our health during infectious viral seasons.
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