Posted on 01/11/2021 2:19:31 PM PST by Vendome
While COVID-19 numbers continue to skyrocket, one South Bay statistic pertaining to another virus is surprising experts in the best possible way.
So far this season, there has been only one reported case of the flu in Santa Clara County. Experts credit COVID-19 precautions for the drop.
The county's official flu numbers — logged after emergency room or doctor visits in which lab results come back positive — fluctuate every year, from the mid 40s to the mid 70s and sometimes as high as the mid 200s. But to date, the only flu case this season was recorded in October.
"Right now, there’s no reported flu cases in our county," Assistant Santa Clara County Public Health Officer Dr. Elsa Villarino said. "And we do surveillance. We look for those all the time."
Villarino said the precautions people are taking for the coronavirus might be the reason.
“Well, people are washing their hands, more masking, so that has the effect also," Chris Russell, who got the flu shot, said.
Doctors said the flu is not as contagious as the coronavirus, so the hygiene, social distancing and masking are making a difference.
Villarino said this season what people normally think of as flu symptoms, like muscle aches, cough and fever, are more likely to be something else.
"This could be COVID. It probably is COVID right now," Villarino said.
I’ve never really associated coughing as a symptom worth note when it comes to the flu. Barfing , ralphing , Yes. Oh and watching NBC news locally, its a kinder gentler viral critter. but it still can make ya spew!
Makes ya wonder where some of these folks got their degrees.
There are two types of illness referred to as “flu” in the US.
The first is a stomach bug, thus often referred to as ‘the stomach flu that lasts 24 to 58 hours and features malaise, vomiting and diarrhea.
The second is a viral event that lasts 2 or more weeks with weakness that can last up to 6 weeks. It features fever cough upper respiratory and lower respiratory symptoms and can often include bronchitis or pneumonia.
..... Have the scientists ever bothered to consider the possibility that the Flu et-al are actually creating false positives for COVID-19 aka SARS-CoV-2????
Thanks. I attribute my weakness of late more to some recently diagnosed other stuff (ulcerative colitis) and I am more than familiar with the regular gut ripper flu.
My viral event of early 2020 was more than a flu, not sure but my suspicion has been we were ‘victims’ of China virus before it was initially reported and then went viral.
The chest pain and coughs were like nothing I’d experienced before. My wife had it worst first and then I followed. OTC meds and bed rest worked fortunately.
Thanks. I attribute my weakness of late more to some recently diagnosed other stuff (ulcerative colitis) and I am more than familiar with the regular gut ripper flu.
My viral event of early 2020 was more than a flu, not sure but my suspicion has been we were ‘victims’ of China virus before it was initially reported and then went viral.
The chest pain and coughs were like nothing I’d experienced before. My wife had it worst first and then I followed. OTC meds and bed rest worked fortunately.
Or, many of the PCR tests registering positive for Covid are actually false positives with folks who have a case of the flu.
Per the CDC’s influenza website....
“The geographic spread of influenza as reported by state and territorial epidemiologists indicates geographic spread of influenza viruses but does not measure the severity of influenza activity. Due to the impact of COVID-19 on ILI surveillance, and the fact that the state and territorial epidemiologists report relies heavily on ILI activity, reporting for this system will be suspended for the 2020-21 influenza season. Data from previous seasons is available on FluView Interactive.”
Trump cured 5he flu. Yhea!
Ill let all those people who have slipped the surly bonds of earth know of your expert medical opinion...
We only think your idiots when you make such a misinformed statement as fact.
My daughter had an atypical flu with shortness of breath in February. I suspect it was covid.
Hate to break it to you, but pretty much everything except the tiny market down the street run by the wizened old man for the past 60 years is either corrupt or being corrupted.
And he’s probably getting kickbacks from the local dairy.
Flu is being diagnosed as COVID. It brings more government money that way.
COVID is a variety of flu and all flu is currently being reassigned to the COVID statistics.-
Well, https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-swab/fact-check-a-swab-test-is-highly-unlikely-to-misdiagnose-flu-or-common-cold-as-covid-19-idUSKBN26R3DH states:
“The Covid PCR test has pretty good specificity and sensitivity so it’s not that much of a problem. The test is more likely to throw a false negative than it is a false positive,” Dr Joshua Moon, research fellow in the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex Business School, said.
However, the antibody tests, which determine if a person has had virus, can sometimes pick up other seasonal coronaviruses.
“People are seeing some cross-reactivity in antibody tests,” said Dr Mike Skinner, Reader in Virology in the Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London. He said only about 20% of colds are caused by the seasonal coronaviruses, and the rest by rhinoviruses.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that antibody test results should not be used to diagnose someone with an active infection (here) .
-Flu deaths being reported as COVID to keep the numbers up.
Hospitals and doctors do get paid more for Medicare patients diagnosed with COVID-19 or if it's considered presumed they have COVID-19 absent a laboratory-confirmed test, and three times more if the patients are placed on a ventilator to cover the cost of care and loss of business resulting from a shift in focus to treat COVID-19 cases. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/04/24/fact-check-medicare-hospitals-paid-more-covid-19-patients-coronavirus/3000638001/
-People with symptoms of the flu who refuse to be seen out of fear of being diagnosed with COVID and having to quarantine.
Very plausible.
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