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Social distancing may have kept flu cases at historic lows worldwide, suggests a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Data from Australia, Chile, and South Africa show a small fraction of influenza cases from April to July, the months that make up the typical influenza season in the southern hemisphere.
In those three regions, there were only 51 positive flu samples out of 83,307 tests for a positivity rate of 0.06 percent.
In contrast, the positive rate in those regions during the same period in previous years was close to 14 percent.
In the United States, flu virus circulation dropped dramatically in the 2 weeks after the government declared a national emergency on March 1. From a flu test positivity rate of 19 percent during September 2019 to February, the rate dropped to just 0.3 percent from March 1 to May 16. School closings, mass gathering bans, and stay-at-home orders all helped stop the spread of the flu in the community, as well as the coronavirus, according to the CDC report.
“The global decline in influenza virus circulation appears to be real and concurrent with the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated community mitigation measures,” CDC researchers reported Thursday.
Even with the encouraging numbers, experts are urging Americans to get a flu shot to keep the risk of illness as low as possible. In any one year, less than half of American adults get a flu shot, according to CDC data.
This year, public health officials are urging more Americans to get vaccinated against the flu to reduce the chance of getting sick and reduce potential burdens on hospital systems. To meet the growing demand for flu vaccines, the US ordered nearly 200 million doses of the flu vaccine.
“Last season, we distributed about 170 million doses of the flu vaccine. This season, we will probably receive as many as 200 million doses, ”said LJ Tan, chief strategy officer for the Immunization Action Coalition, a nonprofit organization that works directly with the CDC to increase immunization rates.
According to the CDC, the best time to get vaccinated is in September or before the end of October.
Dr. Jake Deutsch, ER Physician and owner of Cure Urgent Care, has already seen twice as many patients seeking a flu shot compared to all of last year. Urge people not to wait until later in the season.
“Could you get in touch [with the flu] if you wait too long. In fact, yesterday we already had a positive flu test in our office, ”he said.
It’s too early to predict the severity of the flu season in the US, but Deutsch would like more Americans to wear masks and maintain social distancing to slow the spread of both Covid-19 and flu.
“It is worrying that certain parts of the country are still resistant to the use of masks,” he said. “I think it should become normal until we really get out of this flu season and have vaccinations as a possibility to treat Covid-19.”
