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The U.S. faces a ‘perilous’ flu season due to COVID-19 surge, experts said

The United States will face a tough flu season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Herb Scribner Herb Scribnerhscribner@deseretnews.com
SHARE The U.S. faces a ‘perilous’ flu season due to COVID-19 surge, experts said
Pharmacist Lahib Ali shows a flu shot in a drugstore Wednesday, Oct.14, 2020 in Paris. France launched a flu vaccine campaign Tuesday in an effort to avoid facing another epidemic peak as the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the country. French health authorities have issued official recommendations to prevent potential shortages of flu vaccine, which they fear might happen amid increased demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic

Pharmacist Lahib Ali shows a flu shot in a drugstore Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020 in Paris. France launched a flu vaccine campaign Tuesday in an effort to avoid facing another epidemic peak as the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the country. French health authorities have issued official recommendations to prevent potential shortages of flu vaccine, which they fear might happen amid increased demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic

Lewis Joly, Associated Press

Multiple experts warned The Guardian that the United States could face a troubling flu season due to the coronavirus pandemic, especially if the country fails to limits the spread.

What’s going on?

Stephen Woolf, a professor of family medicine and population health at Virginia Commonwealth University, told The Guardian that people in the United States need to take the pandemic seriously to stop a horrific winter season.

  • “It’s very important now that the country undertake a really serious commitment to adopting the kinds of policies that are necessary to prevent this virus getting transmitted through a community.”
  • “Not having large gatherings, not having big games in football stadiums, not having big political rallies, and many other things the society and politicians are resisting.” 
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Woolf said the fall season could be “perilous” now that the U.S. has failed to curb the spread.

  • “The concern I have going into the fall is this is a very perilous point in time. “We’re entering the winter flu season, and we’re not going into it with low baseline rates (of coronavirus) like we should have.”

Stopping COVID-19 could stop flu season, experts said

Researchers recently told Scientific American the policies used to stop the spread of the coronavirus — like washing your hands or wearing a mask — could help stop the spread of influenza, as I wrote for Deseret.

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  • “The belief is this was the result of wearing masks, more frequent hand-washing, physical distancing and less large gatherings,” Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association told Salon. “Influenza and the common cold are diseases spread person to person in much the same way as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. So, efforts to reduce COVID-19 have the dual benefit of reducing colds and flu.”

There has been some evidence of this happening in the Southern Hemisphere in places like Australia and New Zealand, as well as countries in South America. Those areas saw lower flu cases due to the COVID-19 measures, as I wrote for Deseret.