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Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#91

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

ibraheemdev wrote: post #5

Just speculating here, but maybe because of false positives where flu cases get labeled as Covid? I've heard that PCR tests were not meant to be used for large scale virus detection. EDIT: The PCR test quote was fact checked and deemed to be misleading, but it still sounds like they are not very accurate [0]. [0]: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-pcr-idUSKBN2442...

I know in our region they aggressively and specifically checked for flu and found none this year, so it is definitely not for a lack of testing. I have no idea why people are so uncomfortable with the idea that what worked to deter COVID had an even greater effect on the flu.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-nears-end-of...

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#92

Post by ipqk »

fridif wrote: post #59

While I am sure that masks and no working from the office played a part in this, I believe: 1) most flu cases are being mislabeled as covid 2) most people who have a mild flu are not going to the doctor 3) the easiest way to test this will be when covid goes away and the flu suddenly reappears.

#2 is true for all years, not just this year.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#93

Post by ggggtez »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #78

If I caught the flu, how would the government/scientists studying this stuff even know I got it? If you're anything like me you probably just take some time off and get over the illness without ever seeing a doctor or taking a flu-test. How do they measure such things? I suspect they use some elaborate statistical model to try and generalize the results to the whole population.

>worldwide

Because people outside the US actually see their doctors when they get sick? Or people who are otherwise older/younger/immunocompromised etc.

Don't just assume that everyone is a young healthy person like yourself.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#94

Post by gregmac »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #78

If I caught the flu, how would the government/scientists studying this stuff even know I got it? If you're anything like me you probably just take some time off and get over the illness without ever seeing a doctor or taking a flu-test. How do they measure such things? I suspect they use some elaborate statistical model to try and generalize the results to the whole population.

If you had flu symptoms, are you not going to go get a covid test?

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#95

Post by bla3 »

jccooper wrote: post #44

You always fight the last war. Covid measures started as flu measures, and to a great extent still are even though we now know (and knew fairly early) that the transmission modes differ significantly.

I thought we know by now that transmission mode is more similar than initially thought? That is, it's mostly airborne for both covid and flu.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#97

Post by grumpyautist »

panarky wrote: post #89

Every community has a baseline mortality rate during "normal" times. During abnormal times like pandemic, famine and war, more people die than usual, but often the cause isn't known. If you subtract baseline mortality from actual mortality to get excess mortality, that's often a better estimate of the casualties from pandemic, famine and war than the death certificates for every person who died. Excess mortality in m…

That article is drawing conclusions based on an incomplete data set. Suicide with covid is a covid death anyway.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#98

Post by tpmx »

gibspaulding wrote: post #83
Joker_vD wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are... are those still a thing in the first world?

I read somewhere (I think Bill Bryson's "At Home") that they were almost wiped out at one point in the 20th century, but have recently started making a comeback which seems to correlate with the rise of energy saving low temp wash cycles that aren't as effective at killing them.

Looking at the Google Trends graph I posted in the sibling comment - that would make so much sense.
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