Maybe this winter won’t be so bad after all.
US and COVID-19 possible twindemic and year-end influenza brackets in the northern hemisphere while other countries, the South-of-the-equator give a ray of hope to countries such as Australia, Argentina and South Africa when: they already have a season of their mild flu.
These charts from The Economist show that the Southern Hemisphere, where the winter flu season lasts from May to October, has seen a sharp decline in the number of influenza infections and deaths so far this year compared to the previous five years. The World Health Organization processed 200,000 influenza tests in the first two weeks of August; There were only 46 positives this year, compared to about 500,500,000 during the normal year.
And while approximately 86,000 Austral Australians test positive for the flu between May and August Gust each year, with about 1,130 deaths, the government has reported only 6,277 cases of influenza and a single death this year during the same window. .
Check out some charts below.
Dr. Economists and some health experts, including Anthony Fauci, attribute the social-distance and personal hygiene measures taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus to prevent the annual influx of flu outbreaks in the Southern Hemisphere. One concern, however, is that people are more likely to spread the flu by wearing face masks and avoiding crowds, and reopening schools and businesses. Indeed, the Economist notes that the Southern Hemisphere may also see an increase in flu cases this year and next, as fewer people have developed immunity to this year’s strain.
So health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics are urging all Americans over the age of 6 to take flu shots this year to reduce the risk of getting the disease. U.S. The flu season usually begins in October before coming between December and February. CDC Director Robert Redfield recently warned that if both Covid-19 and flu cases were drowned in hospitals, the U.S. would be tormented for “the worst fall, from a public health perspective, we’ve ever had.” The flu has sent 140,000 to 810,000 Americans to hospital each year since 2010 and is responsible for between 12,000 and 61,000 deaths that year.
Related:Vaccinating children against the flu is ‘more important than ever’ this year: Pediatrics
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also cited the Southern Hemisphere historian’s historically mild flu season during a congressional hearing on the nation’s coronavirus response on Wednesday.
“If we continue to do what we keep saying about the types of preventive measures like wearing masks, social distance, avoiding crowds, washing hands, etc. – if we do it like autumn and winter, for the purpose of Covid-19, it will increase the rate of influenza infection. It is likely to have a positive impact on, ”he said. “Because our colleagues in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in Australia, have found them, they have a very, very low, mild influenza season.”
So if Americans take these public health measures and get the flu vaccine, he said, “Hopefully we can get a very, very low level of flu that will then complicate the Covid-1 with a clearly challenging winter.” No. “
In the same hearing Fau Ki Sen. As a result of a heated exchange with Rand Paul, Kentucky accused Republicans of repeatedly “misunderstanding” Covid-19 research and “not listening” to the CDC.
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