The flu season has started slowly; COVID-19 Precautions Can Help

As the coronavirus rises across much of the United States, that other virus we’re beginning to worry about this time of year, the flu, is slowly beginning its annual invasion. There have been a few cases in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, but the numbers remain low, as they are in most of the country.

This could be because precautions that prevent coronavirus infection like masks, social distancing, and hand washing also make it harder for the flu to spread. It could be that Americans have heeded the call to get a flu shot this year so hospitals aren’t inundated with flu and COVID-19 patients at the same time. Or it could just be the usual calm before the storm.

Typically, the flu starts out slowly in October and November, accelerates around Thanksgiving, accelerates further after the December holidays, and peaks in January and February. But it is difficult to predict. Sometimes it starts late or has more than one peak.

“The flu is fickle,” said William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The southern hemisphere has given us some reason to expect a mild flu season, Schaffner said. Both New Zealand and Australia, whose flu seasons occur during our summer, had far fewer cases than usual this year. Its residents also received far more flu shots than usual and did a very good job of following social distancing recommendations.

America has been much more divided on the social distancing front. Public health officials have strongly encouraged flu shots this year and that may have had an effect. CVS said he has already taken more shots than he did all season last year. He’s prepared to administer 18 million injections, double last year’s total. Walgreen Co. said it has administered 60% more flu shots this year than during the same period last year. Rite-Aid has also seen increased demand. Patient First, an urgent care provider, said demand for vaccines was two to three times higher than last year during the first two weeks the vaccines were given. After that rush, it has been more or less the same.

On the other hand, Kimberly Mazur, medical director of AtlantiCare’s Federally Qualified Health Center in Atlantic City, said she has seen an increase in vaccinations among patients. They have been influenced by the anti-vaccine movement, he said, and they are concerned that the development of coronavirus vaccines has accelerated. Gemma Downham, director of infection prevention at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, said some employees have questioned the need for vaccines when they wear masks all the time to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Downham tells them that masks are not foolproof, they are often misused, and generally not used at home.

Schaffner said some Americans will have to try harder to get a vaccine this year. Large vaccination campaigns in the workplace will be less common. High-risk people sheltering at home don’t see their doctors in person as often as usual. “You have to depend on individual initiative to go for the vaccine,” he said.

Nationally, most of the United States is green, the color that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses to indicate “minimal” infection rates. An outlier in the most recent report was Iowa yellow, which has little flu activity.

New Jersey has low flu activity now, said Tina Tan, a state epidemiologist with the New Jersey Department of Health. “This is what we expect at this point in the flu season,” he said.

In Pennsylvania, which has had 365 laboratory-confirmed cases so far this fall, Ray Barishansky, undersecretary for health preparedness and community protection, said the cases are slightly higher than last year, but still low.

However, one problem with influenza data worth noting is that only a fraction of people with influenza are screened for the disease.

Public health leaders say it’s more important than ever to get a flu shot this year for multiple reasons. One is that healthcare providers could be busy with COVID-19 cases. Another is that the flu and COVID-19 share many symptoms. If you have not received an injection, that means you will need to have more tests and may endure more anxiety if you have, for example, a fever or a cough.

Although rare, it is possible to get the flu and COVID-19. “What we’re concerned about this year is that if people get both at the same time, it can really overwhelm the body,” Downham said.

And, Tan said, the flu can also be a dangerous illness. The CDC estimates it caused 400,000 hospitalizations and 22,000 deaths last season. “It is not insignificant,” he said. The flu tends to affect children more than the coronavirus.

He said coronavirus precautions will likely reduce the flu this year, but they are not enough. “Everything we do to prevent COVID also helps prevent the flu, but the difference from the flu is obviously that there is a vaccine.”

Flu shots are recommended for everyone over the age of six months.