Posted on 01/02/2021 8:45:05 AM PST by Hojczyk
Epidemiologist Knut Wittkowski thinks he can answer the riddle.
"Influenza has been renamed COVID in large part," said the former head of biostatistics, epidemiology and research design at Rockefeller University.
"There may be quite a number of influenza cases included in the 'presumed COVID' category of people who have COVID symptoms (which Influenza symptoms can be mistaken for), but are not tested for SARS RNA," Wittkowski told Just the News on Thursday.
Those patients, he argued, "also may have some SARS RNA sitting in their nose while being infected with Influenza, in which case the influenza would be 'confirmed' to be COVID."
Holden Maecker, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, echoed that assessment. "I feel pretty confident that the COVID-19 mitigation measures have caused the reduction in flu cases this year," he said. "Masks, social distancing, and hand washing are all effective counter-measures against colds and flu."
Speculating on why COVID levels have continued to soar if those measures have been so effective at stopping the flu, Maecker said: "I think it's because (1) there is less pre-existing immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in the population, whereas most of us have had vaccines and/or previous bouts with flu; and (2) the SARS-CoV-2 virus seems to spread more easily than influenza, including more aerosol transmission and 'super-spreader' events. Flu transmission is almost entirely close-range droplets and hand-to-nose or eyes contact."
(Excerpt) Read more at justthenews.com ...
Influenza will not generate a positive covid test and vice versa
I was speaking with a niece in Miami FL who works for the hospital systems in Miami. She kept going on about how many cases of Covid they have in the hospitals. I asked her how many cases of FLU do they have. She point blank answered NONE. When I questioned her how can that be when we have tens of thousands of deaths every year from the flu and now there are none? She reiterated there have been NO flu cases reported. Go figure..
Last March, a close friend of our family, a young guy, was sick and subsequently hospitalized with pneumonia. They told he he tested positive for flu. Then later told him it was CV, co-infection.
On a related note, that entire family just got over it. He had just coronavirus this time (supposedly) and it was much more mild than what he had last spring.
You had covid
This might help clarify things a bit.
My ER tests results...a long list
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/3920875/posts?page=18#18
What if damp, moist unwashed masks are SPREADING the virus to healthy people? Where are the lawyers?
that is a typical viral respiratory panel although more commonly we text for i only 4 - covid, flu a, flu b, and RSV
test for only 4 should be
“Masks....are all effective counter-measures against colds and flu.”
Odd. Until 2020, all the science said masks were worthless against viruses. Good against bacteria, blood and snot, though....
For the record, YES. A few Fridays ago, I woke up with a bad sore throat. I figured I was getting a cold, as a sore throat is the first symptom I typically have. Three days later, on Monday, I was sneezing a lot, and my nose was running. Furthermore, I felt achy and had a fever. I went to the local urgent care center, where they rapid-tested me for both COVID and infuenza. I tested negative for both. But because I had a fever and was aware of false positives and false negatives, I requested another test for COVID to be sent out for further evaluation. I got the results 3 days later which indicated I was negative for COVID. I was not further tested for influenza. I was given a flu vaccine in early November. I was told by the the urgent care center that a person could still get the flu if they had a flu vaccine.
Interestingly, I was told to quarantine until the “send out” result came back. So I quarantined for 3 days until I got the results. So you see, there is uncertainty among healthcare providers regarding the rapid tests. But if I had not requested the “send out” test, would I have been advised to quarantine? If not, people are being sent out into the population without further testing.
My conclusion based on my experience: the rules are unscientific, inconsistent, and lacking in consensus. A recipe for abuse and tyranny. AND, one can feel very crappy during a pandemic and test negative for COVID.
I hope this is helpful to others.
And by the way, I’m a registered nurse.
Not for many months. No fda clearance. Just now seeing assays that test for both simultaneously.
Still about 90 percent covid only testing, especially for pre procedural clearance and asymtomatic tests.
Since early april only 1 target required to be covid pos. This means if the nonspecific covid marker is pos, you have covid.
I have found that many stores in rural areas will leave you alone without a mask...the opposite of urban areas. Guess who gets my business. :-)
The answer is that CDC has been lying to us about the flu for years. A much smaller number of Americans die from the flu each year. So, CDC started "estimating" the number of flu deaths to be much, much larger... because CDC wanted to convince more people to get flu shots.
The. you should know there are many respiratory viral infections out there besides covid and influenza. Had one myself a couple weeks ago with 2 negative covid tests
Are the treatment protocols for severely ill WuFlu and influenza patients similar enough than an incorrect diagnosis wouldn’t adversely affect the patient?
As usual, FReepers are ahead of the curve. We’ve known this for many months, now.
Anybody else sick of being played for a SUCKER, yet?
“Quarantine the sick. Protect the vulnerable. Free everyone else.”
LIBERATE WISCONSIN! LIBERATE AMERICA!
Data reveals total deaths from all causes in 2020 is about what is is for the past several years. Why??
It is past the time to: Quarantine the sick. Protect the vulnerable. Free everyone else.
Yes, that was the point I was making. I certainly wasn’t arbitrarily sick. I had a virus—or something else—just not COVID, at least according to the tests. I think we have lost sight of other bugs with all the focus on COVID.
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