首页|The Dreaded "twindemic" of Influenza and COVID-19 Has Not Yet Materialized - Might This Be the Year?
The Dreaded "twindemic" of Influenza and COVID-19 Has Not Yet Materialized - Might This Be the Year?
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NSTL
Amer Medical Assoc
Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm， PhD， MPH， likens predicting a flu season’s severity to forecasting a hurricane’s strength and its exact path 5 days before it makes landfall。With influenza， as with hurricanes， “[w]e have to expect the unexpected，” Osterholm， founder and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota， explained in an interview with JAMA。 “We have to plan as if this could be a severe flu season。”Some experts， including National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci， MD， have pointed to Australia’s 2022 flu season—in the temperate regions of the Southern Hemisphere， flu season typically runs from April to September—as a warning about what could be in store for the US。 Influenza cases in 2022 peaked earlier and higher in Australia than in any of the previous 5 flu seasons， according to preliminary data in a government report， and children and teens were more likely to have been affected than adults。Despite the high number of cases， the impact of the 2022 flu season in Australia， as measured by the number of patients hospitalized or patients unable to go to work or school as usual， was low to moderate， the government report noted。 The number of patients hospitalized with influenza in Australia peaked early but not higher than in the previous 5 flu seasons。Forecasting the severity of the US flu season based on the Australian flu season preceding it “is a fair thing to say but is never a 1-to-1 comparison，” virologist Richard Webby， PhD， director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds， cautioned in an interview with JAMA。 “I do think we’re likely going to have a big flu season，” Webby， a faculty member at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis， added。
NSTL
Amer Medical Assoc
