Historic no seasonal flu season

[robinson]

There’s more to it of course

Since novel strains (the kind that tend to kill people) almost always come from Southeast Asia each year, the lack of travel, especially anyone who is sick with the flu, is a possible major factor in the flu vanishing

Flu strains that most people have immunity to don’t spread

It’s the strains that are new that cause the damage

But in any case, anyone sick with the flu just couldn’t travel in the last year

[robinson]

Or go to work, or go to school, or visit a nursing home, or sit in a Doctors office

[robinson]

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has seen a notable global reduction in influenza cases of both influenza A and B viruses. In particular, the B/Yamagata lineage has not been isolated from April 2020 to August 2021, suggesting that this influenza lineage may have become extinct, which may provide opportunities for improving availability and effectiveness of influenza vaccines.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-021-00642-4

I mentioned something odd showed up in April 2020 data

Now it's official

[robinson]

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/endangered.png

https://xkcd.com/2523/

[Anaxagoras]

Flu may return this year. May have already returned.

State health department raises alarm as campus flu outbreak climbs to over 500 cases

It's still sort of early to say though. But that may already be more cases than all of last year, just on one college campus.

H3N2, if anyone's curious.

[Doctor X]

Do they not have mask mandates on campii?

– J.D.

[robinson]

The University of Michigan is tracking a "large and sudden" rise in cases.

Considering the starting number is zero …

[robinson]

Any rise is going to seem large

With the record snow and cold in China

All the ducks are back

Time for another lockdown

[robinson]

And to check the CDC site once more

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm

Says all the Michigan cases were from one outbreak