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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

#11

Post by ericcholis »

brandon272 wrote: post #6
User23 wrote: post #4

Why did the flu also disappear in the states that had effectively no covid restrictions? This is a serious question and not an attempt at rhetoric. I really am curious. Was flu never a problem in Florida? Was voluntary compliance so widespread that heavy handed government policy had no marginal anti-flu effect? Something else?

The likely explanation is that, because the flu is significantly less transmissible than COVID, even states with "no restrictions" were able to knock it out because enough people took enough measures to protect themselves from airborne/surface communicable disease in general. In other words, you can probably beat back the flu significantly by having enough of the population mask up, wash/sanitize their hands, etc.

Also, I wonder if there is correlation of at-risk people getting more flu shots?

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#12

Post by brandon272 »

ericcholis wrote: post #11
brandon272 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The likely explanation is that, because the flu is significantly less transmissible than COVID, even states with "no restrictions" were able to knock it out because enough people took enough measures to protect themselves from airborne/surface communicable disease in general. In other words, you can probably beat back the flu significantly by having enough of the population mask up, wash/sanitize their hands, etc.

Also, I wonder if there is correlation of at-risk people getting more flu shots?

Not sure what the case is overall, but apparently in North Dakota, where flu cases were 1/65 of what they were the year prior, flu vaccinations are only up 5%: https://kfgo.com/2021/04/29/319613/

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#13

Post by yosito »

al3xandre wrote: post #8
yosito wrote: post #3

While I think this is most likely due to masking, distancing and staying home when sick, which were all far more effective against the flu than against SARS-CoV-2, I wonder how much this was affected by some of the deep cleans that cities were doing at the beginning of the pandemic where they basically sprayed entire cities with disinfectant trucks. Does anyone with more expertise have any thoughts about that?

You realize those « deep cleans » are mostly comms operations for governments to look like they are doing stuff, right? Virus live (mostly) in people, not on sidewalks. One of the most ridiculous example: the Thai government went to the extent of spraying disinfectant in the forest next to the Burmese border, and got pictures published in newspaper to show their great work. Comical! [1] [1] https://twitter.com/thaine…

> You realize those « deep cleans » are mostly comms operations for governments to look like they are doing stuff, right?

Yes, but it must have had some effect on fomite transmission of some viruses, right?

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#14

Post by georgeplusplus »

yosito wrote: post #3

While I think this is most likely due to masking, distancing and staying home when sick, which were all far more effective against the flu than against SARS-CoV-2, I wonder how much this was affected by some of the deep cleans that cities were doing at the beginning of the pandemic where they basically sprayed entire cities with disinfectant trucks. Does anyone with more expertise have any thoughts about that?

Flu - a coronavirus that has been wiped out because of social distance and masking and hygiene controls

Covid - a coronavirus that is absolutely rampant because insufficient masking, distancing, and hygiene controls

How you rationalize that hypocrisy so easily in your head is beyond me.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#15

Post by ska »

User23 wrote: post #4

Why did the flu also disappear in the states that had effectively no covid restrictions? This is a serious question and not an attempt at rhetoric. I really am curious. Was flu never a problem in Florida? Was voluntary compliance so widespread that heavy handed government policy had no marginal anti-flu effect? Something else?

> states that had effectively no covid restrictions?

This isn't really true anywhere, some places had fewer state mandated restrictions, but effectively everywhere had significant changes in terms of breadth and depth of person-to-person contacts.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#16

Post by [deleted] »

georgeplusplus wrote: post #14
yosito wrote: post #3

While I think this is most likely due to masking, distancing and staying home when sick, which were all far more effective against the flu than against SARS-CoV-2, I wonder how much this was affected by some of the deep cleans that cities were doing at the beginning of the pandemic where they basically sprayed entire cities with disinfectant trucks. Does anyone with more expertise have any thoughts about that?

Flu - a coronavirus that has been wiped out because of social distance and masking and hygiene controls Covid - a coronavirus that is absolutely rampant because insufficient masking, distancing, and hygiene controls How you rationalize that hypocrisy so easily in your head is beyond me.

[deleted]

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#17

Post by cblconfederate »

yosito wrote: post #3

While I think this is most likely due to masking, distancing and staying home when sick, which were all far more effective against the flu than against SARS-CoV-2, I wonder how much this was affected by some of the deep cleans that cities were doing at the beginning of the pandemic where they basically sprayed entire cities with disinfectant trucks. Does anyone with more expertise have any thoughts about that?

probably the school closings were the largest contributor

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#18

Post by jimbob45 »

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...

You don’t deserve the downvotes. There’s long been speculation that flu cases may be getting reported as COVID and vice-versa because of the symptom overlap.

Re: Flu has disappeared worldwide during the Covid pandemic

#19

Post by wozer »

yosito wrote: post #3

While I think this is most likely due to masking, distancing and staying home when sick, which were all far more effective against the flu than against SARS-CoV-2, I wonder how much this was affected by some of the deep cleans that cities were doing at the beginning of the pandemic where they basically sprayed entire cities with disinfectant trucks. Does anyone with more expertise have any thoughts about that?

They didn't do that in Germany, but the flu disappeared here, too.
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