As flu season approaches, health experts are concerned about a “twindemic” this fall and winter, with both influenza and COVID-19 cases flooding hospitals, reported USA Today.
“We were worried about the ‘twindemic’ last year and we face the same threat this year,” said Dr. Daniel Solomon, a physician in the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, according to USA Today. “COVID-19 is likely to continue, and we face the threat of dual respiratory viruses that could put a strain on our health care system.”
Generally, the flu season lasts from October through May.
Last year’s flu season was unusually mild, with the lowest rate of laboratory confirmed hospitalizations since 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mitigations in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including wearing face masks, staying home, new hygiene procedures, physical distancing and closure of public spaces such as schools likely resulted in the low incidence of influenza, the CDC said.
Now, as students return to in-person learning and mask mandates are eased in some cases, the flu could circulate as it does during a typical year. In the three years before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were between 400,000 and 810,000 flu-related hospitalizations annually, said the CDC.
For the week of Aug. 17, the seven-day average for COVID-19 hospitalizations was 11,521. In some areas of the country, hospitalizations are at their highest levels since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, causing a shortage of ICU beds and devices needed to treat severe cases of the virus.
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According to USA Today, physicians have not started to see flu cases yet. However, they have been seeing cases of other viruses, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that are indicators of the coming flu season.
While RSV in the summer doesn’t necessarily predict flu transmission in the fall and winter, Solomon said it shows that children are passing infections to each other as they interact more in social settings.
Health experts don’t think another lockdown will be necessary to prevent a “twindemic”, said USA Today. Instead, they encourage people to get vaccinated for both viruses and to keep practicing hygiene protocols such as frequent hand washing, wearing masks and staying out of public spaces when sick, according to the outlet.
Flu vaccines are often available for free. Solomon recommends getting a flu vaccine in October to protect through the season. As it’s hard to determine whether a patient has he flu or COVID-19 based on symptoms alone, he also said it is important for people who feel sick to get tested so they can receive proper treatment.
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