After the most mild flu season on record in 2020, the virus could come back early and hit harder this year, some doctors are predicting as they urge people to get a flu shot.
“The worry is that we are out of isolation and we didn’t get some of the natural immunity from last year, so we could see a surge in flu from last year,” said Dr. Robert Klugman, the medical director of employee health at UMass Memorial Health.
Flu cases and deaths last year were the lowest on record since influenza reporting started in 1997, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The record low was mostly attributed to COVID-19 restrictions such as social distancing and masking.
There were about 700 flu deaths in the United States last year. By comparison, there were 22,000 flu deaths in 2019, CDC data shows. In a typical flu season, upwards of 150 children die of the virus. Last year, just one child died of the flu.
That was good news during a a dark time. But here’s the potential bad news: “Reduced population immunity due to lack of flu virus activity since March 2020 could result in an early and possibly severe flu season,” read a recent notice from the CDC.
People who do become infected with flu this year could also have worse symptoms due to lack of exposure from last year.
Klugman said “we could be in really big trouble” with a potential influx of flu and coronavirus this winter, but it’s still a bit early to tell.
“The flu is no joke. Thousands of people die every year from the flu,” Klugman told the Herald.
Dr. Daniel Solomon, infectious disease physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, also said the likelihood that flu will return is high with kids back in school and many coronavirus restrictions relaxed.
Solomon added that other viruses such as rhinovirus and respiratory syncytial virus already made a comeback and hit earlier than usual.
“It’s extremely important to get the flu shot because of the uncertainty about what we are going to see, especially because it might come early,” Solomon said.
The flu shot is already available and it’s the perfect time to get one.
Healthcare practitioners are also gearing up for flu season. Solomon said it’s impossible to distinguish between flu symptoms and coronavirus symptoms, so testing will be very important.
Urgent care facilities are staffing up and stocking up on tests and flu shots, said Dr. Jeannie Kenkare, chief medical officer of PhysicianOne Urgent Care.
“There’s a very, very high risk that we are going to see a bad season this year coming off of what happened last year,” Kenkare told the Herald.
She added, “We are bracing ourselves for what we might be headed into.”
Flu shots can be given during the same visit as a coronavirus vaccine and are recommended for everyone older than six months, according to the CDC.
Ideally, everyone should get a flu shot by the end of October, but vaccines can be given throughout the flu season which typically ends around April or March. Flu season isn’t in full swing yet, but there are some cases starting to pop up around the country.
Flu shots are free and typically have a more mild side effect profile than the coronavirus vaccines.
