Mass testing and vaccination are now more critical than ever!
Kaieteur News – When was the last flu outbreak in Guyana? At least not in the last year!
It was reported in the media yesterday that some of Aishalton’s residents, De Rupununi, came down with some symptoms – fever, joint pain and dry cough – that they first thought were the flu! Big mistake!
Once you have exhibited any of the usual symptoms of flu, as well as the additional ones associated with the coronavirus, your first hypothesis is that you may be infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus. And you should seek medical attention and advice immediately.
Don’t assume it’s the common cold or flu. One of the strange yet unexplained developments is the reduction in the number of cases of flu during the 2020/2021 flu season. A report in Reuters has suggested that this is not a case of flu cases being diagnosed as COVID-19 but rather that the measures being used to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic are also slowing down and stopping the flu.
Dallas, Texas, in March this year recorded two cases of flu and no deaths compared to 18,186 cases of flu and 25 deaths last season. But if the preventive measures being used to prevent the coronavirus are responsible for the decline in flu cases and deaths, why are so many new coronavirus infections being reported throughout the United States?
In South Dakota, 66 cases of flu and two deaths were reported this flu season compared to 9,555 cases and 43 deaths in the 2019/2020 flu season. In Alberta, Canada, the flu season is over with no flu outbreaks. Ottawa typically has an average of 43,000 cases of flu per season. This year, there were 66 cases as of the third week in March, according to CTV News.
Bloomberg reported that during the three-month period between September 2020 and January 2021, the flu viruses were detected in just 0.2 percent of normal throat and nose swabs. This compares with the usual average of 17 per cent.
Although it is thought that the coronavirus is more than 10 times more infectious than the viruses that usually cause flu, this fact does not explain how the same measures are not more effective in preventing coronavirus infections. Certainly, if wearing masks, sanitation and social distance account for the dramatic decline in influenza outbreaks, they should also have had a greater impact on coronavirus outbreaks.
But they do not have any that suggest that preventative measures are not the main reason for preventing flu during the winter season. The flu season in the United States is usually from October to March. But this is also the time when the coronavirus has spread faster than before.
One theory is that the viruses, which cause the flu, prevent duplication of some corona viruses. The BBC quoted researchers at Glasgow University as saying that the virus that causes the common cold seems to trump the coronavirus. One expert opinion is that the common cold beats back the coronavirus. But this still doesn’t explain the incidence of coronavirus.
Another explanation for the decline in flu cases and deaths is the increase in flu vaccination ever since the coronavirus hit March 2020. This may be a credible explanation. But the argument was why flu outbreaks have been so low last winter season likely to continue for some time in the future.
In Guyana, it has been clear that there has not been a major outbreak of influenza. This may be good news for children and adults but it is not good news for the doctors and pharmacies who do thriving business whenever there is flu.
With a huge spike in recent outbreaks, the population is bound to be in denial. Many people who refuse to think they may be infected with the coronavirus, many want to believe that the symptoms they are experiencing are linked to the flu.
This assumption can literally be deadly. People should take no chances. They should be tested as soon as they exhibit any symptoms or are exposed to someone who has tested positive.
In fact, mass testing of the population should be done now. The government should aim to increase its testing capacity to 5,000 tests a day. This would allow the whole population to be tested over a six month period.
But more important is vaccination. Experts now say that faster delivery of the vaccine is the best way to overcome the threats posed by the variants. This can be true of infection prevention.
However, the data does not establish that a higher percentage of young people die. At least the United States does not have the highest rates of infection and death. Even with the new variants, the elderly (people aged 50 and over) account for 95 percent of the deaths in March and so far for April.
With a shortage of vaccines, authorities have to make a choice between introducing it more quickly to the general population to prevent hospitals becoming overwhelmed, or vaccinating more of the population over 50 to reduce the death rate. It’s not an easy choice especially for some of our local experts who are just guessing their way.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of this newspaper.)