No flu cases this year

[disykat]

It's amazing. Gone, just gone. Just like all the other illnesses, gone.

Again, totally not true and really dismissive of people who HAVE those other illnesses. I know people in kidney failure, struggling with cancer, having heart attacks. Those things haven't stopped, nor have deaths from those things.

 

[TwoMisfits]

My only fear is that while there are significantly less cases which is a good thing, there is also the idea that not having any germs, or virus or anything else introduced to our bodies we are not build immunities to certain lesser ailments. At some point do we deteriorate our immune systems to a point where even the most non consequential ailments can kill us?

You don't need to interact with sick people to build immunity...you just need to interact with people. So, healthy to healthy interaction will be sufficient to build immune responses...we are all covered from head to toe with things for others' immune systems to "fight off"...

 

[GreatLakes]

I think it is a combination of a few factors in no particular order:

• People not feeling well are staying home more than in the past. I know people that would often go out sick. This year any hint of illness and they stay home.
• Many schools are remote and what is one of the biggest spreaders of any illness? Schools.
• Many employees are working remotely so they aren't bringing their illnesses into the office. I can't catch the flu from my coworker through our Zoom or Teams meeting.
• More thorough and frequent hand washing.
• Increased use of hand sanitizer.
• Mask wearing.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So why haven't we worn Masks every Flu Season and should we from now on?

Because, if you can't get everyone to wear a mask during a pandemic (where people are dying horrible deaths), how are you going to convince them to wear it for "just" the flu?

 

[godisney14]

Not correct. There are plenty of peer reviewed articles showing that masks have no effect on transmission of influenza. Here is an article from the CDC stating the same.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article

From the very link you provided:

...transmission should be reduced the most if both infected members and other contacts wear masks, but compliance in uninfected close contacts could be a problem (12,34). Proper use of face masks is essential because improper use might increase the risk for transmission (39). Thus, education on the proper use and disposal of used face masks, including hand hygiene, is also needed.

 

[Pyotr]

From the very link you provided:

..In theory, transmission should be reduced the most if both infected members and other contacts wear masks, but compliance in uninfected close contacts could be a problem (12,34). Proper use of face masks is essential because improper use might increase the risk for transmission (39). Thus, education on the proper use and disposal of used face masks, including hand hygiene, is also needed.

Disposable medical masks (also known as surgical masks) are loose-fitting devices that were designed to be worn by medical personnel to protect accidental contamination of patient wounds, and to protect the wearer against splashes or sprays of bodily fluids (36). There is limited evidence for their effectiveness in preventing influenza virus transmission either when worn by the infected person for source control or when worn by uninfected persons to reduce exposure. Our systematic review found no significant effect of face masks on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza.

Discussion

We did not find evidence that surgical-type face masks are effective in reducing laboratory-confirmed influenza transmission, either when worn by infected persons (source control) or by persons in the general community to reduce their susceptibility (Figure 2). However, as with hand hygiene, face masks might be able to reduce the transmission of other infections and therefore have value in an influenza pandemic when healthcare resources are stretched.

 

[dclpluto]

Yes flu deaths are down also cancer deaths are down.

 

[Brett Wyman]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-coronavirus-flu-cases-record-low/4127197001/
It just shows you how terrifyingly contagious COVID is.

 

[mefordis]

Because, if you can't get everyone to wear a mask during a pandemic (where people are dying horrible deaths), how are you going to convince them to wear it for "just" the flu?

They aren't really being convinced so much as coerced. You cannot go into a business without one.

 

[mefordis]

Yes flu deaths are down also cancer deaths are down.

They are being diagnosed as covid. Just kidding.

 

[dclpluto]

So why haven't we worn Masks every Flu Season and should we from now on?

no we shouldn’t who wants to wear a mask every year. There is nothing to stop you from wearing a mask the rest of your life. Enjoy.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

They are being diagnosed as covid. Just kidding.

My sister was diagnosed with the flu this last year.

Edited to correct: It was actually in the fall of 2020. I forgot we're in a new year for a minute.

 

[nw6675]

"The drop occurred despite a sixfold increase in testing at public health labs, most of which checked for influenza A and B along with the coronavirus."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-coronavirus-flu-cases-record-low/4127197001/

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think regular things like that go a long way to help mitigate spread of germs in general.

You'd want to wear one everyday for the whole year if the goal was to remove almost entirely flu or viruses. Flu season is just when flu is around the most and runs from October- and as late as May peaking typically in December-February. I'm all for individuals choosing this but I think we overestimate how many people really will. I think at most it will at least be a consideration for some when they are mildly ill.

 

[MrsBooch]

You'd want to wear one everyday for the whole year if the goal was to remove almost entirely flu or viruses. Flu season is just when flu is around the most and runs from October- and as late as May peaking typically in December-February. I'm all for individuals choosing this but I think we overestimate how many people really will. I think at most it will at least be a consideration for some when they are mildly ill.

I didn’t mention wearing masks. I was talking about people washing their hands more frequently and diligently.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I didn’t mention wearing masks. I was talking about people washing their hands more frequently and diligently.

You literally quoted someone who talked about wearing masks every flu season and asked them why they thought people didn't do it. Plus your first post spoke to wearing masks as well. That's why I responded to your post I did understood you to be speaking about good hygiene in addition to that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Reduction in flu incidence was the expected outcome. I did read early on they were concerned that a lack of flu season may put people at an increased risk the next flu season and on because of our exposures to it where it builds immunity to it (even as short-lived of an immunity that it is).

This is from a more recent information (from September) than what I had been reading early on (when the southern hemisphere was going through their flu season): "In reality, we don’t know for sure if social distancing has led to fewer flu infections worldwide – or just the number recorded. If it hasn’t, the rate of its evolution might be largely unchanged. This would mean that next year – when social distancing may have been largely abandoned – parts of the world that currently have fewer flu cases could be hit hard."

“If there's no transmission of other respiratory pathogens, that means people are not getting immunity to them" (this is from an epidemiologist at the University of Chicago).

The article I was reading was also discussing that in part seeking medical treatment may be reduced thus not knowing the full numbers. We do know people have been reducing this. Some places may have not been testing for the flu as much because they needed to pay attention more to COVID, etc.

I do think a combination of measures and behavioral changes has led to a reduction in general of a flu season and it's a blessed reprieve this year.

 

[Jennasis]

This is the first year in a LONG time I haven't gotten a bad cold.

It's not a conspiracy. It's hand washing, avoiding other people and mask wearing.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

This is the first year in a LONG time I haven't gotten a bad cold.

It's not a conspiracy. It's hand washing, avoiding other people and mask wearing.

Are people saying it's a conspiracy? And what would be the conspiracy? I swear I can't keep up with all the stuff people can come up with.

 

[yaya74]

People are finally keeping their kids home when they are sick, something they SHOULD have been doing all along. Now they are forced to do it. Yay! No one has had a cold in my family for almost a year because selfish jerks who used to send their kids to school with a snotty nose and cough are no longer allowed to do it.

I hope they continue to do temp checks and send kids home when they are coughing with a runny nose. One of the best things that have come from this whole thing.

^^ This..... I work at an elementary school. During pre-Covid era, kids would come to school with fever, runny nose and cough. When we called the parents to pick up their sick children, they would let their sick kids waiting in the nurse’s office until dismissal time because they were too busy to pick them up. Parent taught kids not to tell school about the fever medication they took in the morning. Kids didn’t wash their hands after using bathroom and before eating lunch. Children sneezed and coughed without covering their mouths/ noses. ...

And you wonder why teachers and school staff are so scared to go back to school because of COVID...