Remember the flu? Coronavirus sent it into hiding, but at a cost

[snoop1130]

Remember the flu? Coronavirus sent it into hiding, but at a cost

By Francesco Guarascio

 

FILE PHOTO: A doctor prepares a syringe as part of the start of the seasonal influenza vaccination campaign in Nice, France October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/File Photo

 

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - At least one victim of the coronavirus pandemic will not be mourned.

 

Influenza, which each year kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, all but vanished in Europe last month as coronavirus lockdowns slowed transmission, according to EU data and scientists.

 

The northern hemisphere’s winter flu outbreak normally runs from October until mid-May and in some seasons has claimed lives on the scale of COVID-19, despite the existence of a vaccine.

 

Influenza killed 152,000 people in Europe in the 2017-18 winter. So far, COVID-19 has taken nearly 100,000 lives across the continent, albeit in a shorter period of time.

 

“The flu season ended earlier than usual this year and this is probably due to the measures taken regarding SARS-CoV-2, such as social distancing and mask wearing,” Holger Rabenau, virologist at the Frankfurt University Hospital, told Reuters, using the scientific name of the new coronavirus.

 

Although that is welcome, the dearth of cases could slow progress towards a vaccine for next season’s flu.

 

Laboratories have been overwhelmed with COVID-19 and have had fewer flu samples at their disposal, meaning they “may not have the full picture of the virus circulating in the last part of the season,” said Pasi Penttinen, a senior flu expert at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

 

Fewer data and delays in processing information could affect the quality of the vaccine for the 2021 winter season in the southern hemisphere, whose composition is usually decided in September based on samples collected at the start of the year.

 

“It might be a problem,” Penttinen told Reuters, as less information on the possible mutations of this year’s virus lowers the chances of assembling the most effective jab against strains expected to be prevalent the following year.

 

The problem is unlikely to affect next winter’s vaccine for the northern hemisphere because its composition was agreed in February, Penttinen said.

 

Decisions over the composition of vaccines are taken early because it takes several months to manufacture the millions of flu jabs needed every year.

 

UNDER-REPORTING?

 

Data on flu-related fatalities are not yet available but early estimates point to much lower mortality this year.

 

Only 4,000 flu patients needed intensive care treatment this season, according to data from 11 European countries, around half the number in the same period of the previous two seasons.

 

Denmark, which went into strict lockdown in early March, saw only a fraction of its usual death toll of around 1,000 people from flu this winter, said Lasse Vestergaard, an infectious diseases expert at Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut.

 

Denmark had 355 COVID-19 deaths as of April 20, according to a Reuters tally.

 

Even without the arrival of coronavirus, this flu season had been mild, with the peak of detected infections reached at the end of January and a steep drop in cases thereafter, according to EU data and experts. By the end of March, after lockdown measures had been in place for a few weeks across Europe, reported influenza outbreaks had all but disappeared.

 

Seasonal flu activity was also lower this season in Japan, possibly due to coronavirus measures such as wearing masks or washing hands more frequently, according to a study published this month by experts at the University of Tokyo and the Japanese centre for disease control.

 

While lockdowns appear to have hampered the transmission of flu, it is unclear whether under-reporting may have also contributed to its apparent early demise. People with milder flu symptoms have mostly steered clear of hospitals during the COVID-19 epidemic, experts say.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-20

 

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[rabas]

Who is going to go to a hospital with a flu now?

 

[mauGR1]

1 minute ago, rabas said:

Who is going to go to a hospital with a flu now?

 

Sorry for the silly question, but isn't "normal" flu a corona virus too ?

 

[elliss]

 

      Panic rules the World ..

 

 

Edited April 20, 2020 by elliss

[surangw]

will it be a "blend" next flu season ?
 

[fforest1]

26 minutes ago, elliss said:

 

      Panic rules the World ..

 

 

Well it was going to be the Alien invasion that was going to cause the lockdown but then they decided the Corona flu would be more believable ...

Edited April 20, 2020 by fforest1

[Chomper Higgot]

52 minutes ago, rabas said:

Who is going to go to a hospital with a flu now?

 

Erm..... ‘People suffering with the flu’ would be my guess.

[anto]

1 hour ago, Tounge Thaied said:

Go listen to the London Real interview with David Icke... This guy has finally come full circle and we need to listen to what he has to say with our own critical mind. Don't simply dismiss what he has to say in this interview. Unless of course you don't really give a <deleted>, then just go back to your farm pen and go back to sleep... sheeple. 

Poor old David Icke has lost it .I used to be a fan.Now is is saying that there is no deadly virus and its just 5G burning the lungs .

[metisdead]

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[TheDark]

10 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

Sorry for the silly question, but isn't "normal" flu a corona virus too ?

 

No.

[HHTel]

According to Worldometers, there have been 148,473 'flu deaths this year including 552 deaths today.

[cornishcarlos]

5 minutes ago, HHTel said:

According to Worldometers, there have been 148,473 'flu deaths this year including 552 deaths today.

 

Sssssshhhh, don't be telling people that... That's not much less than the WuFlu !!

Why weren't we locked down last year ???

[ivor bigun]

10 hours ago, anto said:

Poor old David Icke has lost it .I used to be a fan.Now is is saying that there is no deadly virus and its just 5G burning the lungs .

I was a fan of Icke as well ,always good for a laugh ,mad as a box of frogs .

[sandyf]

13 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

Sorry for the silly question, but isn't "normal" flu a corona virus too ?

 

There are a multitude of 'flu' viruses, usually designated like HxNx.

Coronavirus infections

Coronaviruses are a large family of ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses capable of infecting humans and a number of animal species. In humans, coronaviruses may cause a range of illnesses from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). 

Currently, the 4 human coronaviruses (HCoVs) known to circulate widely in the human population – HCoV-229E, -OC43, -NL63 and -HKU1 – usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses. Other known coronaviruses are SARS and MERS-CoV. They are zoonotic and can spread from animal to human and from human to human at close contact. In humans, these coronaviruses can cause a severe, acute respiratory infection often presenting as pneumonia.

http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/communicable-diseases/influenza/middle-east-respiratory-syndrome-coronavirus-mers-cov

[rabas]

13 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

Sorry for the silly question, but isn't "normal" flu a corona virus too ?

No.  All influenzas are caused by influenza viruses. Most are type A or B like A H1N1-2009.

 

Common colds are about 30% corona viruses and 60% rhinoviruses, not flu. These are 4 common, not deadly, corona viruses.

 

The new corona viruses are SARS, MERS, and nCoV-2019 (WARS) all nasty recent jumps from bats to humans.

 

The 1918 Spanish flu H1N1 was a recent jump to humans. It's that jump that causes trouble.

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by rabas

[Proboscis]

13 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

Sorry for the silly question, but isn't "normal" flu a corona virus too ?

 

No, influenza is a completely different virus, a completely different shape and structure from any corona virus.

 

You might be thinking of the corona virus that is interpreted as a common cold (about 14% of colds are in fact corona virus). But then this is a different version of the corona virus that is Covid-19.

[mauGR1]

9 minutes ago, Proboscis said:

No, influenza is a completely different virus, a completely different shape and structure from any corona virus.

 

You might be thinking of the corona virus that is interpreted as a common cold (about 14% of colds are in fact corona virus). But then this is a different version of the corona virus that is Covid-19.

Thanks, i am learning a bit about viruses and various definitions in the last weeks more than i knew in my past 60 years.

Of course one can use google, but it's good to know that there are posters here who have some specific knowledge.

[digger70]

3 hours ago, rabas said:

No.  All influenzas are caused by influenza viruses. Most are type A or B like A H1N1-2009.

 

Common colds are about 30% corona viruses and 60% rhinoviruses, not flu. These are 4 common, not deadly, corona viruses.

 

The new corona viruses are SARS, MERS, and nCoV-2019 (WARS) all nasty recent jumps from bats to humans.

 

The 1918 Spanish flu H1N1 was a recent jump to humans. It's that jump that causes trouble.

 

Remember the Hendra Virus in Aus that killed the horse trainer? Came from Bats/Horses Killed People Where does it Stop. I would say If the Bats Wo Flu Virus jumps to Animal/People  that must be All the same Viruses Flus they just Mutate and change when they feel like it 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-19/king-is-it-time-to-stop-horsing-around/2799556

[smiggley]

The reason there are fewer fiu deaths is because they are being classed as covid 19, this is only my opinion but to me it makes sense.

[HHTel]

12 minutes ago, smiggley said:

The reason there are fewer fiu deaths is because they are being classed as covid 19, this is only my opinion but to me it makes sense.

The only flaw in your logic means that a number of deaths are 'assumed' to be covid-19.  i.e. no test.

Although testing has been haphazard to say the least, I do believe the majority of deaths would have been tested.  The first case in Thailand was being treated for Dengue Fever.  Only after he died, a test showed he was positive for Covid-19.

 

I may be wrong.

 

Flu kills around 250 - 500,000 globally.  With around 150,000 to date, we're on target.  There's no evidence that 'flu deaths are less than usual.  The vaccine for 2020 is far from a good match so deaths are expected to be at the high end.

[Krataiboy]

What are the odds that the overlapping of these two events will have resulted a percentage of common flu deaths having been attributed to COVID 19 virus?

 

One clue will be if this season's flu stats, still in the pipeline, turn out to be unusually low. In recent years, UK flu mortality rates have been substantially higher the UK's present 16,500 C-19 fatality rate.

 

During the 2017/18 season, for example 26,000 Brits are estimated to have perished from flu-associated conditions. The number who succumbed to the same cause in the winter of spring of 2014/15 was even higher at over 28,000.

 

And this tragic toll was despite millions of UK citizens -  including nearly three quarters of all pensioners - dutifully following official advice to have their annual flu shots.

 

Vaccines do not offer complete protection and have been known to cause serious illness and even death - a reality worth bearing in mind by those clamouring for a quick vaccine "fix" to the present pandemic.

 

https://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/Influenza/vaccine-injury.aspx

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Krataiboy

[sandyf]

21 minutes ago, rhyddid said:

They forgot to say that the 80% of Flu vaccinated has been the one who got the IC wards busy, as who has been flu vaccinated did not have the proper antibodies and immunity to fight C19.

They want us all, Vaccinated and Chipped, ready to be same the sheeps!

The great unknown again, "they".

[HHTel]

1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:

One clue will be if this season's flu stats, still in the pipeline, turn out to be unusually low.

Well currently, the figures are heading for the high side.  This was expected as the mismatch in the vaccines for 2020 is greater than usual.

You have to bear in mind that the vaccines are usually formulated around September of the year before.  Much of it is made on 'educated guesses'.  So sometimes they don't get it quite right.

[overherebc]

22 hours ago, rabas said:

No.  All influenzas are caused by influenza viruses. Most are type A or B like A H1N1-2009.

 

Common colds are about 30% corona viruses and 60% rhinoviruses, not flu. These are 4 common, not deadly, corona viruses.

 

The new corona viruses are SARS, MERS, and nCoV-2019 (WARS) all nasty recent jumps from bats to humans.

 

The 1918 Spanish flu H1N1 was a recent jump to humans. It's that jump that causes trouble.

 

Corona means Halo or Crown.

It just describes the appearance of the virus.

[Cryingdick]

On 4/20/2020 at 11:01 AM, Chomper Higgot said:

Erm..... ‘People suffering with the flu’ would be my guess.

 

Why do that when you can just use something like Teladoc? The only thing offered for the flu only treats the symptoms there is no cure. You would have to literally be bash!t crazy to go to a hospital now just to get prescribed some night time Tylenol.

 

Disclaimer: I am long TDOC.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Cryingdick