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Influenza reports and a number of other infectious diseases have plummeted as the COVID-19 pandemic has led others to lock themselves up.
In many places, social estrangement measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus can suppress the spread of other infectious diseases at the same time. But elsewhere, the pandemic would possibly only mask the spread of the disease, as others may avoid seeking remedy for more common infections, while pandemic-weakened health care systems may have difficulty conducting surveillance, testing, and regime reports.
Some of the resulting decreases are dramatic. Countries in the southern hemisphere reported that flu numbers fell much more than usual. Australia, for example, started 2020 with a flu peak, reporting around 7,000 laboratory-confirmed cases in January and February. But the epidemic collapsed in March, with only 229 cases reported in April, compared to nearly 19,000 in April 2019, as New Scientist noted.
In Argentina, laboratory-confirmed influenza cases between January and July were 64% less than the average five-year average, according to a Wall Street Journal report. In New Zealand, which was an incredible success in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, fitness officials reported that only 0.7% of the population had flu-like symptoms in the first week of July, while the same previous rates were around 3% to 4%. %. Brazil, which, on the other hand, has fought the pandemic, has noticed that influenza cases fall by around 40, equivalent to a penny of normal.
Additional Readings As the pandemic gets out of hand, the CDC director warns of darker times this fall In a recent report, the World Health Organization noted that influenza activity was “lower than expected,” but noted that knowledge is “interpreted with caution, “because the decline in grades may be due simply to fewer diseases and fewer reports of disease.”
But the flu isn’t the only disease in decline. A Reuters report noted that measles and mumps cases in China fell by 70% and 90%, respectively, while the country was blocked. Similarly, southern hemisphere countries have experienced a decline in other viral diseases, such as respiratory syncytial virus and pneumococcal disease.
It is unclear whether these global trends bode well for the United States, which still faces the highest degrees of coVID-19 spread as the fall flu season approaches. The burden of the disease may depend on Americans’ national adherence to measures of social estrangement, hygiene and mask use.
In an interview before this month, CDC Director Robert Redfield pessimist. “I’m worried, ” he said. “I think autumn and winter 2020 and 2021 will probably be one of the most difficult periods we’ve had in U.S. public health.”
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