Masking up isn’t just reducing the spread of COVID-19. It is having a huge impact on the flu this year.
“During influenza season, I’ll see one to two cases of influenza each week from October to around March. This year so far, I have seen exactly two cases of influenza for the entire season,” said Dr. Linda Yancey, infectious disease specialist with Memorial Hermann Hospital.
She says flu transmission is historically low all over the world.
“We have had this question for years, would universal masking cut down on our cases of influenza? It’s an experiment you could never conduct…until along came COVID. Now we have universal masking around the world. It turns out the answer to that question is a resounding yes, universal masking radically cuts down on influenza transmission,” she said.
The flu is so common that individual cases aren’t reported like the coronavirus, but the CDC does keep track of pediatric deaths.
During the 2017-2018 flu season, 188 children died from influenza. More than 140 children died in the 2018-2019 season, and 195 kids died during the 2019-2020 flu season.
This year, there has been one pediatric flu death reported to the CDC.
Dr. Yancey says tens of thousands of lives can be saved if we continue with some of the strategies adopted this year, like masking.
“Nursing homes, schools – those might be good targets for masking moving forward. I’ll be honest. I think I’ll be wearing this during flu season for the rest of my career,” she said.
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