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Although the coronavirus continues to plague the United States, the country has also seen a sharp decline in flu cases.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, officials only know of a child in the United States who died of the flu this season, while there were hundreds of deaths in previous years.
During the 2019-2020 flu season, the CDC reported that 195 children died of the flu. Experts say that although the flu virus continues to circulate in March and April, fewer people are being infected because of existing immunity and precautions already in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think this obliteration of the flu epidemic, which has been seen globally, tells us that the way the flu is transmitted from one person to another may actually have been impacted by the use of masks, more than anything else,” Flor Munoz , a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ infectious disease committee, said THE Washington Post.
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Munoz explained that the use of masks has proven to be useful, as it can limit the spread of the droplets that carry the flu. Dominant pathogens, such as the coronavirus, can also expel other viruses by granting partial immunity.
These factors, plus the flu vaccine and existing immunity, hindered the flu’s circulation.
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As such, only 0.1 percent of flu tests are positive, compared with 20 to 30 percent at this time in other years, said Lynnette Brammer, who leads the CDC’s domestic flu surveillance team.
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Although flu numbers have remained low this year, experts warn that the virus should return in full force next fall and winter, if the restrictions on COVID-19 are eased.
However, if people continue to wear their masks and social distance, influenza deaths and infections may remain low for the next season.
“I think it clearly showed that mask, distance, wash your hands – all of these things work clearly,” added Aaron Milstone, an epidemiologist and professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University. “So I think the question will be: how much appetite do people have for all this to prevent the flu, instead of just coveting it.”
Brammer also added that it is not too late for the flu to rise this season if restrictions on coronavirus are lifted.
“We could have a flu season maybe small but late. It is very difficult to say,” she said.
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