Flu Is Making Comeback. Here ’s What We Can Do About It

Jeffrey A. SingerAfter being nearly absent in 2020 and 2021, influenza cases are making a comeback. In fact, cases are up ‐​tickingunusually late in the year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)reported on April 15 that the majority of cases are H3N2, “antigenically different from the vaccine reference viruses.” This explains why the latest flu vaccine is only16 percent effective in reducing the chances of a moderate to severe infection. As of April 15, the CDC reported at least 4.3 million flu illnesses, 42,000 hospitalizations, and 2,500 deaths from the flu.Public health experts attribute the rise in flu cases to the resumption of pre ‐​COVID social activity. People are crowding in public places with less social distancing along with less mask‐​wearing. While the former undoubtedly is a contributing factor, the latter is more uncertain. Althoughdebatecontinues over theefficacy ofwearing face masks for COVID,prior to 2020 most public health researchers agreed masks have no proven efficacy, whetherN95 or surgical, for preventing influenza.However, another factor not receiving enough attention is the phenomenon calledviral interference. This is where two or more virusescompete for thesame host. When the 2009 H1N1 pandemic hit continental Europe, an ongoingrhinovirus infection in France delayed the H1N1 influenza virus from impacting that country for several months. Similarly, the more contagious Delta variant of COVID o...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs