No flu cases this year

[GreatLakes]

I'm not sure you'll see most people in masks all the time during future flu seasons. What would be good is when people start to feel ill but have to go out for whatever reason they wear a mask until they feel 100% well. I believe that is what happens in Japan and it seems like a reasonable compromise.

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

My son had a fever a few weeks ago and went to get tested. They did a combo COVID/flu test on him and he had the flu. Ended up with a fever of 103.7. His flu was way worse than the people I personally know that had COVID.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

My son had a fever a few weeks ago and went to get tested. They did a combo COVID/flu test on him and he had the flu. Ended up with a fever of 103.7. His flu was way worse than the people I personally know that had COVID.

Same for the people I know personally and myself too. On a scale of 1-10 When I had the flu it was an 11. Covid about 2.5.

 

[mrodgers]

What I really take issue with are the "forever maskers." Once this pandemic is over all my masks will be burned. Everyone needs to do their part and get vaccinated.

Hey, at least you'll incinerate your masks instead of leaving such a serious biohazard in the shopping carts or littered all over the gas station parking lots. That's awesome!

 

[kymom99]

That sounds great. But the vast majority of cases don't end up at a hospital.

That's what I got at urgent care too

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

I read an article about Alzheimer's which pointed to how it's on the rise and many autopsies are showing massive increases of aluminum, a carrier in the flu shots, in the brain.

You should know that many if not all of the authors putting forth these theories have been retracted from research journals, had funding pulled, and are known conspiracy theorists/anti-vaxxers.

 

[EveDallas]

Same for the people I know personally and myself too. On a scale of 1-10 When I had the flu it was an 11. Covid about 2.5.

Same. Haven't had Covid but am recovering from flu. It really knocked me for a loop.

 

[mefordis]

You should know that many if not all of the authors putting forth these theories have been retracted from research journals, had funding pulled, and are known conspiracy theorists/anti-vaxxers.

These researchers need to stop asking questions and fishing for new information. Why can't they accept the settled science? It is a well known scientific fact a little bit of aluminum in the brain is actually healthy.

 

[cobright]

Not correct. There are plenty of peer reviewed articles showing that masks have no effect on transmission of influenza. Here is an article from the CDC stating the same.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article

The paper you link is a meta analysis and shows that plenty of peer reviewed research favors mask use. I haven't had time to roll through each of the composite studies but a lot of them admit to cripplingly small datasets. The ones with large study population tended to be more likely to show a benefit for mask use.

The Larson study that this paper used in group B actually concluded, "mask wearing was associated with reduced secondary transmission and should be encouraged during outbreak situations."

The Simmerman study in the same group was heavily weighted yet described its own limitations as, "Influenza transmission was not reduced by interventions to promote hand washing and face mask use. This may be attributable to transmission that occurred before the intervention, poor facemask compliance, little difference in hand‐washing frequency between study groups, and shared sleeping arrangements." They sent these families home with instructions to wash their hands more often and wear a facemask (or not depending on the group) and the families basically owned up to just not paying attention to those instructions.

The linked paper also references that 'mechanistic studies' support the efficacy of masks. It seems that the conclusion of whether masks work to prevent influenza is more common in studies where the test groups actually wear the masks.

 

[disykat]

I find it interesting that most of the numbers coming out for number of deaths this past year overall pretty much show that the average excess of deaths this year vs. the previous years pretty much matches the numbers that have been counted as COVID deaths. (example 300,000 listed as COVID deaths, meanwhile 300,000 more death certificates logged compared to previous years.) If people supposedly aren't dying from these other things, then the COVID numbers we are counting don't really account for the proven excess deaths. Are we going to find out even more people are dying from COVID than we thought?

People aren't going to believe numbers and data, regardless.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Disposable medical masks (also known as surgical masks) are loose-fitting devices that were designed to be worn by medical personnel to protect accidental contamination of patient wounds, and to protect the wearer against splashes or sprays of bodily fluids (36). There is limited evidence for their effectiveness in preventing influenza virus transmission either when worn by the infected person for source control or when worn by uninfected persons to reduce exposure. Our systematic review found no significant effect of face masks on transmission of laboratory-confirmed influenza.

Discussion

We did not find evidence that surgical-type face masks are effective in reducing laboratory-confirmed influenza transmission, either when worn by infected persons (source control) or by persons in the general community to reduce their susceptibility (Figure 2). However, as with hand hygiene, face masks might be able to reduce the transmission of other infections and therefore have value in an influenza pandemic when healthcare resources are stretched.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/usmap.htm
There sure is a lot of green, it's usually glaring red everywhere by now and I know this because I've been watching for years. The biggest change is human behavior so I suspect at least a nod should go towards efficacy of current provisions. Just because a thing can't be proven by the scientific method doesn't mean it isn't true, for example, we know the Black Plague happened but no-one was running around gathering data to satisfy the requirements.

 

[milton123]

Yeah thats weird I have noticed that too.

 

[godisney14]

I find it interesting that most of the numbers coming out for number of deaths this past year overall pretty much show that the average excess of deaths this year vs. the previous years pretty much matches the numbers that have been counted as COVID deaths. (example 300,000 listed as COVID deaths, meanwhile 300,000 more death certificates logged compared to previous years.) If people supposedly aren't dying from these other things, then the COVID numbers we are counting don't really account for the proven excess deaths. Are we going to find out even more people are dying from COVID than we thought?

People aren't going to believe numbers and data, regardless.

Unfortunately, if data and facts do not align with a predisposed belief, some people just won’t believe them. Not just with COVID.

 

[DLgal]

Considering that the flu circulates and reemerges every year due to international travel, it's not surprising that flu cases are super low this year.

 

[LostBoysClub]

Considering that the flu circulates and reemerges every year due to international travel, it's not surprising that flu cases are super low this year.

Not to mention most people pick up the flu while out and about. Now everyone is doing errands masked and with frequent hand washing/sanitizing.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

My daughter was diagnosed with FLU B last Monday, she was and still is Covid negative, tested twice negative.
She has developed an ear infection and has an abnormal strep reading

 

[Colleen27]

I don't think poorly of people but I know a lot say it's a good thing if we all did this or they say they wish people would or they say they wouldn't mind doing it but I think if we're more honest with ourselves and less interested in looking good to others we'll admit that far fewer people would actually do this. I think some people will I really do but I think many more say they like it but it's a concept and idea that they like not that they themselves (and their loved ones and their friends) will choose to wear masks during flu seasons, during every time they feel sick, etc.

I think a lot depends on how socially acceptable it remains. Even right now, with mask mandates in place but not enforced, there are businesses around me actively discouraging mask-wearing (the most notable: a gun shop that has a sign equating mask-wearing to criminal intent) and there's a certain amount of public scorn/ridicule attached to compliance, so as much as I like the impact masking and better hygiene in general has had on this cold/flu season in my kids' circles (and therefore my own exposure), I don't know that it is a hill I'll choose to die on when this whole thing is over. But I suspect in some areas where there is a different local culture, wearing masks when ill or in very crowded spaces like subways and buses might be accepted enough that a certain percentage of the population will continue to do so.