‘Twindemic’ a fear as flu season approaches
Medical community worried over strain on health system
After the mild flu season a year ago, there are now concerns about a possible “twindemic.”
“The medical community really wants to avoid the twindemic where we get a surge in both COVID and flu cases. Usually on average for flu it’s about 30,00060,000 deaths (per season), then you put this with COVID and our health system will become strained. We obviously want to avoid that,’’ said Dr. Rena Daiza, a family physician at Henry Ford Medical Center in Bloomfield Township.
Flu season starts in October and runs through May.
The influenza virus spreads through respiratory droplets just like the transmission of COVID. So all the precautions taken last year — masking, social distancing, hand washing — kept the flu numbers low.
With so many people vaccinated against COVID-19, not as
many precautions are being taken this year.
For the 2020-2021 flu season, hospitalizations were the lowest recorded since data collection of that type began in 2005, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC has not released death totals from last season’s flu for adults. But there was a stark difference in pediatric deaths from the flu. In 2020-21 one pediatric death was reported, while the previous year (2019-20) there had been 199, which was a recordhigh.
“Definitely there are a lot of deaths in children every year from the flu. Luckily it was down last year because children were learning remotely, but now kids are back in school. We want to keep them back in school, of course,’’ Daiza said. “People are congregating and we expect the cases to go up for kids and adults.’’
The best defense against the flu is the flu vaccine.
“Immunity usually lasts a good six months. We’re recommending maybe later this month and definitely by next month you want to have
your flu shot,’’ Daiza said.
She explained that this year’s influenza vaccine has four components
which will protect against four different flu viruses.
It’s OK to get the COVID-19 vaccine and the flu vaccine at the same time, although, if possible, she recommends a week or two in-between shots.
It’s been 18 months since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for some people COVID fatigue has set in, but keeping guard against the flu is as important as always.
“Now that things are a little bit lax in terms of precautions, we may see a surge in flu cases and, unfortunately, in COVID cases,’’ Daiza said. “Not only will we see more cases and potentially more deaths, it will be a huge strain on the health system which could be detrimental to people who need to be seen for strokes, heart attacks and other emergencies. They may be denied a hospital bed because the hospital is overloaded with COVID and also now the flu.’’
Appointments can be made to receive flu shots from doctors. Flu shot clinics will be popping up in the next few weeks. Also, local pharmacies like CVS, RiteAid and Walgreens are an option.