COVID-19 precautions could be contributing to a much-reduced rate of this seasonal illness
Influenza infections are at an unusually low level in Pierce County, and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department director Dr. Anthony Chen thinks it’s a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, what people are doing to avoid getting infected with the coronavirus is helping them avoid the flu virus: mask wearing, social distancing, hand washing and adhering to the various workplace, social and education shutdowns and restrictions.
“I think what it’s telling us is that these precautions that were taken for COVID work to prevent viral infections,” Chen said Thursday.
At this time in 2020, influenza-like illness accounted for over 4% of emergency department and urgent care visits in Pierce County. Currently, that figure is 0.6%, TPCHD reported.
No flu-related deaths have been reported in the county, and no long-term care facility has reported an outbreak. During the 2016-2017 flu season, about 20 people died in the county by this time.
Local labs reported only two positive results out of 453 influenza tests — less than 1%. During the January-February peak of flu season, tests are typically 25-30% positive, according to TPCHD.
The first indications of the low flu-rate trend came in July and August during the southern hemisphere’s winter, Chen said. Following high rates at the beginning of the season, flu levels dropped below normal in Australia as the winter progressed and COVID-19 restrictions were put in place.
If a low flu rate is a rare bright spot in the otherwise dismal news coming from the pandemic, why aren’t COVID-19 cases and deaths lower as well?
The fact that COVID-19 rates increased to unprecedented levels across the United States beginning in November can be interpreted in different ways, Chen said.
The first is that the way COVID-19 spreads differs from the influenza. Different infectious diseases have varying rates of transmission. In addition, the methods they use to enter the human body (mouth, nose, eyes) can vary in efficiency.
Another interpretation is that the pandemic could be much worse without the protocols in place, Chen said.
“You think our numbers are bad? Now imagine what it would be like if we were not wearing our masks?” Chen said.
While COVID-19 rates are leveling off after the late 2020/early 2021 spike, it doesn’t mean it’s time to relax.
“One of my concerns is people are taking their eye off the ball,” Chen said. “They’re all focusing on the vaccine.”
Less than a year ago, some were in a panic over a handful of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States. Now, thousands die of the disease every day.
Chen said pandemic fatigue and increasing numbness to COVID-19 statistics have contributed to a routine-like feel to the pandemic, even for him.
“We have to be able to find strategies to overcome that,” Chen said.
Unlike the COVID-19 vaccine, influenza vaccines are readily available and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccination for everyone over 6 months of age who don’t have contraindications to the vaccine.
The flu season lasts October through April.
