With coronavirus dominating all areas of the news, have we forgotten about influenza?
Australians have dodged hundreds of deaths from the common flu thanks to social distancing measures.
Practises adopted to stop the spread of coronavirus including increased hand washing, wearing of masks and maintaining physical distance has been responsible for decline of cases of the flu.
In July, there was 192 confirmed cases of the flu compared to 8,447 cases of coronavirus, which were locally acquired. The flu usually peaks during the winter months; however, this flu season seems to be an exception.
Coronavirus and Influenza cases Australia 2020
Comparison between confirmed cases of influenza and locally acquired cases of coronavirus
With the closure of Australian borders, the flu is less likely to enter the country from international sources. Contributing to the low rates of influenza, is the move to online school, work and university. People are not able to transmit the virus between each other, which has been adopted to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The lack of cases of the flu has resulted in a decrease in deaths. Last month, 35 deaths were recorded compared to 637 deaths by July of 2019. However, the 2019 flu season was particularly severe. By August 17, nearly 217,000 Australians were diagnosed with the virus.
Two million more doses of the influenza vaccine were received by Australians, totalling 8.8 million doses between march-mid July, according to the federal health department. This has also been a contributing factor to the decline in flu deaths.
CEO of the Immunisation Coalition, Kim Sampson, acknowledged the obvious connection between the decrease in flu numbers and measures implemented due to coronavirus.
Both coronavirus and influenza are respiratory illnesses and if severe, can be fatal. They are similarly transmitted by human to human contact and can spread easily and quickly. The flu, “can spread faster than COVID-19”, according to the World Health Organisation. While, the flu is not as threatening as coronavirus; the common strains pose a greater risk to infants and young children.
Coronavirus transmissions saw a peak in mid-July with 746 new cases confirmed on the July 30th.
The stage four and stage three restrictions across Victoria appear to be containing the second outbreak.
