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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

#701

Post by bsder »

warkid wrote: post #683
bsder wrote: post #562

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unlike Covid, kids are a significant vector of spread for influenza. Children, in fact, have been hypothesized to be the primary reservoir for influenza. The implication of this is that it would be much better to vaccinate all children against influenza rather than everybody else.

Isn't that already the case worldwide? I live in Russia and all schools are routinely vaccinated every autumn here.

I have never heard of such a thing in the US. Someone else will have to chime in about European countries.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#702

Post by jakobnissen »

president wrote: post #492
cies wrote: post #445

Covid-19 case counting is a mess. Usually it's based on "the PCR test" which is actually a group of many different tests (the chains they test on can be different and the number of cycles can be different as well). Cases may go undetected, so testing-after-symptoms is very different than testing-random-population-sample. Sometime cases are filed based on symptoms alone. Hence we know very little about the number of C…

There are critics saying that the PCR cycle thresholds they used for testing were too high (37-40). If you look at the values they use for determining covid post-vaccination, they used a cycle threshold of 28. Thoughts? https://twitter.com/MichaelPSenger/status/138783651725969408...

In my lab we don't really believe a result of it has a ct of 30. 37-40 sounds like asking for bad results.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#703

Post by DocTomoe »

llampx wrote: post #306
wombatpm wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I have two myself, I am the first to say it: Children are disease carrying vermin

In Germany meanwhile it has become a meme that "schools are not the driver off the pandemic" stated by all politicians who are obviously taking a page from the Iraqi information Ministers playbook.

Denn, so schließt er messerscharf, daß nicht sein kann was nicht sein darf.

(Because - he concludes in clarity - nothing can be what is not allowed to be, a part of a famous German poem)

It's a political ploy: If children don't go to school, parent's cannot go to work. This hurts the economy. A certain number of Covid deaths is acceptable as long as the economy is not hurting.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#704

Post by [deleted] »

warkid wrote: post #683
bsder wrote: post #562

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unlike Covid, kids are a significant vector of spread for influenza. Children, in fact, have been hypothesized to be the primary reservoir for influenza. The implication of this is that it would be much better to vaccinate all children against influenza rather than everybody else.

Isn't that already the case worldwide? I live in Russia and all schools are routinely vaccinated every autumn here.

[deleted]

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#705

Post by jakobnissen »

dennis_jeeves wrote: post #606

Anyone else skeptical about the whole flu has disappeared fiasco? If the same covid PCR test existed a few years back most flu/cold would have been classified as Covid.

What? No, at least the tests we use in my country is specific for one virus. People with influenza don't get tested positive for covid.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#706

Post by abunuwas »

bsder wrote: post #701
warkid wrote: post #683

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that already the case worldwide? I live in Russia and all schools are routinely vaccinated every autumn here.

I have never heard of such a thing in the US. Someone else will have to chime in about European countries.

I live in Europe and never experienced such a thing. Perhaps to be more specific: I grew up in Spain and now live in the UK. To the best of my knowledge, children keep catching the flu every year and passing it on to their parents, who instead pass it on to their colleagues in the office (or used to, before 2020).

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#707

Post by Rapzid »

timr wrote: post #271
Majromax wrote: post #237

This should not come as a surprise, and it was largely predictable from the outset. The flu has a base reproduction number (R0) less than 2 ( https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/2020/12/07/covid-19... ). Covid has an R0 in the vicinity of 2.5 ( https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scena... ). In the meantime, public health measures like masking and distancing will work against both viruses. If…

> This should not come as a surprise, and it was largely predictable from the outset....the flu has a base reproduction number (R0) less than 2....Covid has an R0 in the vicinity of 2.5....In the meantime, public health measures like masking and distancing will work against both viruses....there's really no need for conspiracy theorizing. Assuming that this is due to "masking and distancing" and the small difference…

> This should not come as a surprise, and it was largely predictable from the outset....the flu has a base reproduction number

I feel like you constructed a straw man by snipping this out from the parent comment:

> work against both viruses. If people become reluctant to socialize because of covid (whether or not there be legal restrictions), they will also not spread the flu.

You can socialize from 6 feet and with a mask. I took the parent to include staying home in their assessment and I have no clue why anyone would think otherwise. It's peak social distancing.

From the CDCs tips for social distancing:

> Choose Safe Social Activities: It is possible to stay socially connected with friends and family who don’t live in your home by calling, using video chat, or staying connected through social media.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#708

Post by jakobnissen »

cheeri0 wrote: post #561

I'm just going to go ahead here and state the obvious. The flu did not magically disappear and people with the flu are without any question being counted as counted as covid-19 cases.

No. I work in my country's national influenza lab, and we still do tests specifically for influenza. We can distinguish between subtypes of influenza with those, the idea of the test being so broad it can pick up other phyla is outrageous.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#709

Post by Matumio »

meragrin_ wrote: post #292
matwood wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Early in the pandemic, absolutely. It was easier/quicker to test for the flu and rule out covid, than test for covid to rule out the flu.

How does testing positive for the flu rule out covid? What is to prevent someone from having both?

The technical term is "explaining away". If a burglar alarm goes off, you can be pretty sure someone triggered it. If there also was an earthquake at the same moment, you can be pretty sure of the opposite. Even though both events can happen at the same time.
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