Infectious disease experts are worried about the approaching flu season, saying it could create a “perfect storm” with the novel coronavirus still around.
Experts said the flu is often unpredictable. Scientists work every year to pick a strain that they believe will circulate. But this year, scientists will see an unpredictable flu season and the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said recently that a “perfect storm” is on the way, according to the Centers for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
- “The big concern this year, of course, is that we are going to see what could be a perfect storm of accelerated COVID-19 activity as people gather more inside, in particular, as they become continually fatigued with the mask wearing, the social distancing, and the hand hygiene, and as they are exposed to seasonal influenza,” Marrazzo said.
- This “perfect storm” could push hospitals to full capacity as those with the flu and COVID-19 seek care.
In an editorial published in Science, experts said the overlap could create massive stress.
- “Much of the population remains susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, and the stress on hospitals will be greatest if the COVID-19 and influenza epidemics overlap and peak around the same time,” they wrote.
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned in August that the United States could see a bleak fall because of the pandemic and flu season mixing together.
- “For your country right now and for the war that we’re in against COVID-19, I’m asking you to do four simple things: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands and be smart about crowds.”
- “I’m not asking some of America to do it. We all gotta do it.”