No flu season anywhere in the world this year ...

[Dustyboots]

Christina Pagel (alternative SAGE) has just said this on Newsnight. She says there's been no flu season anywhere in the world this year because of Covid restrictions etc

Does anyone else know whether this is the case?

She was suggesting that if we kept restrictions up we could eliminate Covid and in the future eliminate most things, therefore reducing deaths forever!

I think she's a bit potty.

Of course there is flu. Where did it go? But their mission is vaccine passports, is it not?

@steppemum

Just a comment on the norovirus.

There was a study done years ago in a nursery/reception school.
One half of the school continued as normal, and the other half were taught how to wash their hands properly, and then as a class they washed hands when they arrived at school, after break time and before lunch every day.

The number of cases of illness, primarily the stomach bugs that goes round amongst small children, dropped by 75% compared to the control class in the same school.

We definitely coudl improve our health if we made good hand hygeine something that is taught and practiced from an early age.

It has always annoyed me that schools get so hung up on attendance but couldn't implement good hygiene measures such as sending children to wash their hands regularly and before lunch time. Hopefully they won't be ditching the hand sanitiser in schools anytime soon.

Flu is still around and people have died from it. Only difference is they have been put down to death by Covid. Infact my neighbour who died of a cancelled operation has Covid on his death certificate even though he didn't have it. So many lies and misinformation spread and I do not know why. Its scary.

Yes, so MANY lies and misinformation. Like people going on a forum and claiming to know the details of their neighbour’s death certificate.

Hopefully they won't be ditching the hand sanitiser in schools anytime soon
Washing hands with soap is much healthier than hand sanitisers which get absorbed by young children's skin into their bodies.

I said right at the start of this, that if we are all social distancing, wearing masks, not mixing, disinfecting shopping etc, that there would be no flu or even common colds this year. It's obvious, surely!

@Cornettoninja Because we were told by them! I have no reason to lie and neither do they!!

@Ahmnotacat really? Its a damn shame you don't know the family and what they have gone through and what they are going through now your soon get rid of that attitude!

@turnitonagain

I do hope now that remote working has been somewhat normalised this is the end of going to work with cold symptoms. I used to think it’s best to drag myself in and then leave midday if still feeling unwell. Last time I had flu I caught it at our office Christmas lunch from a colleague who’d just returned from a work trip overseas and said he had a sore throat midway through the meal

I agree. Whilst I have no concrete evidence I strongly suspect I had Covid last Feb - my colleague returned from a half term skiing trip in Europe with an awful cough, she was in the office for 2 days then had to take the rest of the week off. Within a week both my boss and me had come down with the same thing, I’ve never had a cough like it - it took weeks to shift and I was wiped out with fatigue. My husband caught it from me and spent 3 days in bed with a fever.

My point being, if my colleague had not been a martyr and dragged herself to the office when obviously sick, we would not all have come down with whatever it was.

@RedMarauder

Children do build strong immune systems by being exposed to lots of illnesses when they are young. That is actually how it works!

When mine were at nursery they were constantly ill. Since they started school they have not had one single day off sick. Despite there being many bugs going runs constantly. I’d have rather they built that immune defence up early. So until now they have missed no school days through illness.

There’s plenty of research out there to show long term use of anti bac hand gels and sprays have negative effects on gut health. Most of our immune system is in our guts. It’s necessary at the moment but not something to do long term.
Hand washing with soap is much better for us.

I do think we will see a bad flu year next year unfortunately and lots of colds/viruses and illness. Shutting ourselves away like this isn’t healthy. It’s necessary but not good for our immune systems.

The time I was the least ill was when I used to get the tube to work every day. Constant exposure to lots of germs!

www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/09/12/the-southern-hemisphere-skipped-flu-season-in-2020

I read this the other day which shows that flu season didn't really happen in the Southern Hemisphere (where flu season is now over). Makes sense that measures taken to reduce transmission of covid would also reduce transmission of flu, which is less easily transmitted anyway. Just looking at measures in this country - increased flu vaccinations (in schools up to year 7 I think?), I had the flu jab for the first time ever this year because of covid. People not mixing in pubs/offices/hairdressers, schools closed, not meeting indoors.

[quote WATSFORTEA]@Cornettoninja Because we were told by them! I have no reason to lie and neither do they!![/quote]
Okay, now tell me why I should believe you? Your a random person on the internet recounting third hand information as fact.

I’m not accusing anyone of lying but I’m also very aware that denial is strong at the moment and people refuse to believe facts even when spelt out to them.

If a family believe a death certificate is incorrectly stating a cause of death it should be challenged properly. If they’re not going to do that then frankly they lose any credibility in claiming it’s wrong.

There's some thinking that the Covid virus interacts somehow and prevents flu.

In layperson's terms is that like saying Flu and Covid are both trying to enter a room through the same door at the same time but Covid punches Flu in the face, goes in and shuts the door?

• Children do build strong immune systems by being exposed to lots of illnesses when they are young. That is actually how it works!

There's a balance. Exposure to a range of organisms which aren't life-threatening pathogens is good. (Have pets, let kids make mud pies etc). Exposure to pathogens with low viral load may not be a bad thing - enough to get the immune response going, but low enough that the immune system can deal with it. But obviously that's impossible to calibrate - hence vaccines which essentially do that without the same risks as exposure to the actual disease.

I think it’s definitely been the case that mask wearing which is compulsory where I live in France has prevented me catching any of the usual coughs, colds and sore throats which are usually par for the course in winter. Hand sanitising has also reduced the incidence of “gastros” which are generally the plague of French schools. It’s not really that surprising when you think how things are usually transmitted.

@ErrolTheDragon yes I agree with you. It’s definitely about balance.

Yes - and humans die ... it's a good thing, not just for the environment etc

Read the room. Do you really think it's acceptable to say that when so many people have lost relatives to Covid. (I haven't, mainly because I have a minute family).

Flu cases in Germany in the 5th week of the past three years, in comparison to the 5th week of 2021.

I do agree with the discussions about death. We are terrified of it in the UK.

We are all living far too long and in far too unhealthy a state and sadly flu was a factor in controlling that

We can’t all live to one hundred in a semi dicrepit state.

I’m thankful some of family died before covid and didn’t have to live through it.

Also agree about hand sanitisers. Soap and water is good. Antibacterial gel will be trashing our natural immunity to bugs and i suspect we will see ever growing numbers of debilitating gut issues, autoimmunity and allergies at younger ages. And that will be a tragedy.

Ah! Many more people came forward for their flu jab this year! Or at least they did locally! It will be interesting to see the national/global stats

All the social distancing controls made it more difficult for flu and colds to pass - though I have had a low grade cold, snotty nose for a weeks or so!

We won't lockdown for flu. We live with the NHS on the verge of utter collapse during flu season. Have done for far too many years. But we may, as a society, choose to wear masks in flu season now.

Flu is a killer. It is debillitating. Worldwide vaccination for the most vulnerable wouldn't exist if that were not the case! Adn we are reaping an unlooked for benefit of that programme now!

Soap and water is good. Antibacterial gel will be trashing our natural immunity to bugs and i suspect we will see ever growing numbers of debilitating gut issues, autoimmunity and allergies at younger ages. And that will be a tragedy.

Soap and water is good because it works better than gels. I don't think the gut can tell if the bacteria it didn't get died of soap or alcohol.

Specific antibacterial agents (useless against viruses anyway, of course, and not present in the alcohol gels) should of course be reserved for dealing with antibiotic-resistant bugs such as surface MRSA, not squandered on your worktop.

Yes we should a live in bubbles, forever, and not see other people, forever. We don't want to be ill now.

@truthisalie

Hopefully they won't be ditching the hand sanitiser in schools anytime soon Washing hands with soap is much healthier than hand sanitisers which get absorbed by young children's skin into their bodies.

Pre-covid I think a lot of children in school didn't wash their hands with soap at all. Possibly after using the toilet if there was soap, but definitely not before eating etc - there just wasn't the facilities or time...

It is pretty disgusting if you think too much about it. And probably the extra cleaning is reducing some illnesses in school. Although hand sanitiser doesn't work on norovirus...

Why are we still having these threads?
And why are people who are clearly not even remotely proficient in biology, let alone virology, trying to discuss these issues as if they were professionals?
Particularly, claiming that professionals are potty. (well, some are, but do investigate a bit first before deciding that)

This is one case where Google will give you a lot of information on this. Maybe try that first and do some reading, so that we can have a half decent conversation about it, instead of trying to clarify misconceptions for the millionth time?

www.google.com/search?q=has+flu+decreased+in+2021%3F&oq=has+flu+decreased+in+2021%3F&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160.9296j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

www.healthline.com/health-news/why-the-flu-season-basically-disappeared-this-year
www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-flu-levels-idUSKBN29R2AU
www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/covid-19-measures-also-suppress-flu-now
www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm

I’m thankful some of family died before covid and didn’t have to live through it.

I'd love their opinion on it.

Side point, but if they want to ditch hand sanitiser for washing hands in schools, there needs to be funding for a lot more sinks to be put in in schools. It takes forever to get a class of 30 children to wash their hands properly in our two sinks, even if you stand there and get some to lather their hands while others are rinsing. Hand sanitiser makes life so much easier.

We always used hand sanitiser before lunch time at my school in pre-Covid times, although the alcohol-free type.