The flu, usually in the northern hemisphere at this time of year, has become virtually invisible.
It is a small bright spot in the middle of the Covid-19, although the number of people rescued from a flu is fading alongside people dying from the new pandemic. It also presents questions that doctors around the world will likely struggle with for years: if the flu can end virtually this season, why not every season? What steps help most to prevent the spread of the flu?
“It simply came to our notice then. We are in a historic and incredible situation, ”said Norio Sugaya, a pediatrician who is part of a World Health Organization flu committee.
The WHO says the measures people and governments are taking to prevent the spread of Covid-19, such as putting on masks and limiting public meetings, have likely helped control the flu. According to their information, flu vaccination rates may also increase.
Another hypothesis holds that the widespread spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in countries such as the United States may play a role in blocking the flu by raising people’s immunity to other viruses. . A study conducted in the spring of 2020 in New York City found that people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were much less likely to carry other common viruses such as influenza viruses. However, research into this hypothesis is just beginning.