Photo by Kelly Sikkema on unsplash.com.
Written by Breanna Hardy
The flu and Covid-19 have some common ground: they are both respiratory viruses with the same pathway to infection.
But fighting the pandemic has in turn driven flu cases down dramatically this past season.
Both Sierra View Medical Center in Porterville and Valley Children’s Hospital saw very few cases of the flu this year. Sierra View also did not see any flu and Covid-19 combinations as previously expected.
Tulare County Public Health had low data on flu numbers because it is not required to report cases. However, the department noted that cases are low this year, and estimates it is due to the Covid-19 protocols already in place.
“It’s difficult to say exactly why flu numbers are down, but an optimistic answer would be that our social distancing and masking measures used to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 are also helping to prevent the spread of flu,” said Dr. Jessie Werner, clinical instructor of emergency medicine at UCSF Fresno and Community Regional Medical Center.
It could also be attributed to a lack of flu testing during the pandemic.
“One thing we don’t know for sure is if people are just not seeking medical care – and thus, influenza testing – because of the pandemic. This could also be affecting the numbers,” Werner said.
The flu is typically spread in schools, too. And children have been out of school for the past year on and off.
“There are certainly concerns about flu numbers increasing as we send children back to school. Again, a lot of influenza is spread by school-aged children – both among themselves and older family members. It will be important to continue practicing social distancing, even in the classroom, as well as masking. We do encourage everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated against the flu,” said Werner.
Dr. Rais Vohra, interim health officer for Fresno County, said in a recent Covid-19 briefing, “If there was one nightmare we avoided, it was a big surge of the flu.” He noted it was an unsung success story of the pandemic.
Other factors that contributed to the decrease in flu cases were isolating if symptoms appeared as well as flu vaccinations.
The Centers for Disease Control cited that between Oct. 1, 2020 and March 13, 2021, the Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network – which represents 9% of the U.S. population – detected lower flu hospitalizations. This past season came in at a rate of 0.7 per 100,000 people, which is even lower than the low-severity 2011-2012 season.
Masking during future flu seasons continues to be a topic of discussion, but experts say that combinations of hand-washing, masking, social distancing and vaccination will mitigate the spread of both the flu and Covid-19.