Despite fears that the flu would combine with the covid-19 to create the so-called ‘twindemia’, this flu season was mild.
Allegheny County has so far reported zero influenza-related deaths, three hospitalizations and 180 cases. It is a notable drop from 12 deaths, 115 hospitalizations and more than 10,000 cases from last year.
“This is not even a mild flu season. It’s like there’s no season, ”said Dr. Richard Zimmerman, one of the nation’s leading flu experts. A professor of family medicine and public health at the University of Pittsburgh and a practicing physician, Zimmerman directs PittVax, an old study funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on influenza activity and vaccine effectiveness.
“We should be very grateful for not having a twindemic,” said Zimmerman. “The last thing we needed was a year of strong flu in addition to all of that.”
At Allegheny Valley Hospital in Harrison, there was only one case of flu this season, said Dr. William Bailey, medical director of the Allegheny Health Network and an active physician in the emergency department.
“This is probably the closest to a non-existent flu season I’ve seen in my life,” said Bailey. “We have had very few cases. I think we are probably about 98% below last year’s cases. ”
The same trends are true for Excela Health, said Kathleen Rosatti, director of clinical outcome management, patient safety and infection control.
“Last year, we saw a total of 900 patients,” said Rosatti. “At the moment, we have almost none. We are reduced to one digit ”.
Low flu numbers persist across the state, with 2,748 laboratory-confirmed cases across the community on February 20, said Amber Liggett, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Health. During the 2019-20 flu season, DOH recorded more than 130,000 cases across the state.
She said Pennsylvania reported 34 influenza-related hospitalizations and 14 deaths during the current flu season.
“The percentage of outpatient visits associated with influenza-like illnesses has been low and is still below the state epidemic threshold,” said Liggett.
Health officials said the mitigation measures in place to stem the spread of covid-19 are likely to be the key to this year’s mild flu season.
“The precautions taken to prevent the spread of covid are the same as those recommended to prevent the spread of flu,” said Amie Downs, spokesman for Allegheny County. She attributed the mild flu season in the county to basic mitigation measures, such as covering coughs and sneezing, washing hands frequently and wearing masks.
Covid-19 and the flu are respiratory viruses and therefore can be controlled with the same mitigation measures, explained Zimmerman.
“These viruses are all transmitted by similar mechanisms,” he said. “Mitigation measures have a substantial impact because they transfer to all respiratory viruses.”
Rosatti agreed that covid-19 mitigation efforts are reducing flu cases.
“Naturally, everything we implement to be greedy – the use of masks, the practice of social detachment, hand hygiene – everything made a difference,” she said.
Knowing that mitigation measures were in place to combat covid-19, Bailey said he was not surprised to see a mild flu season this year.
“What we are getting is what you would expect,” he said. “Staying away from contacts, wearing face masks, walking away, everything we are doing for the coronavirus right now is what you would expect it to do for all other respiratory viruses as well.”
Zimmerman noted that fewer international trips this year – another symptom of the covid-19 pandemic – have also helped to limit the spread of the flu. Flu cases often come from South America and Australia, he said. Less global travel means fewer opportunities to spread the flu around the world.
“We haven’t seen much flu internationally,” he added.
While there was a lot of emphasis on the importance of getting a flu shot this year, flu shots probably played only a small role in this exceptionally mild flu season, Zimmerman said.
“It may have contributed a little, but I think the mitigation measures were very important,” he said. “I am sure that not more than half of the adults have been vaccinated.”
About 53% of adults have received a flu vaccine this season, according to CDC data.
Although the flu season has been particularly mild so far, it is impossible to predict what the final months of the season will bring.
“Flu is unpredictable and its activity depends on many factors, including consistency in using covid-19 mitigation actions,” said Liggett.
As long as people continue to adhere to mitigation measures, Bailey said, the rest of the flu season is likely to remain light.
“I think with the flu and coronavirus, our risk is complacency,” he said. “Things seem to be looking up at the moment, but we have to keep our guard up.”
Julia Felton is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Julia at 724-226-7724, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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