This year's nonexistent flu season could prove problematic for vaccine developers
Hospitals have seen only a few silver linings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — a dramatic drop in the flu and other respiratory illnesses among them. But a year without the flu could actually be a problem for vaccine developers and disease forecasters, as well as for people who've gone a whole year without reinforcing their immune system against respiratory diseases, The Atlantic reports.
As 2020 ended and the pandemic began overlapping with the start of a typical flu season, the Mayo Clinic was among hospitals that began testing patients with respiratory symptoms for both COVID-19 and the flu. But among the 20,000 flu tests it conducted between December 1 and February 1, zero came back positive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention similarly reported a mere 0.2 percent flu positivity rate among 800,000 lab samples reported nationwide.
While the flu dropoff was great news for overwhelmed hospitals, it hasn't been helpful for scientists who monitor the flu's constant mutations. Virologists and vaccinologists typically pore through mountains of samples from around the world to predict what the next year's dominant strain will look like and make vaccines to counter it, Stacey Schultz-Cherry, a virologist and immunologist at St. Jude's Children's Hospital, tells The Atlantic. A year without exposure to the virus could also prove problematic for the human immune system, and especially for children who have been exposed to few, if any, varieties of the flu.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Scientists may not have the best view of what's going on with the flu right now. But Florian Krammer, a virologist and flu expert at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, suggested two possibilities. Hopefully, a lack of flu circulation "could end up throttling the circulating strains — possibly even taking one out of commission entirely," The Atlantic writes. But it's also possible the flu family tree could split in two, creating a strain scientists don't even know about until it goes viral. Read more at The Atlantic.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
The Democrats: time for wholesale reform?
Talking Point In the 'wreckage' of the election, the party must decide how to rebuild
By The Week UK Published
-
5 deliciously funny cartoons about turkeys
Cartoons Artists take on pardons, executions, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Crossword: November 23, 2024
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 race
Speed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
McDonald's sued over E. coli linked to burger
Speed Read The outbreak has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states and left one dead
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Texas dairy worker gets bird flu from infected cow
Speed Read The virus has been spreading among cattle in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Dengue hits the Americas hard and early
Speed Read Puerto Rico has declared an epidemic as dengue cases surge
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US bans final type of asbestos
Speed Read Exposure to asbestos causes about 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Seattle Children's Hospital sues Texas over 'sham' demand for transgender medical records
Speed Read Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton subpoenaed records of any Texan who received gender-affirming care at the Washington hospital
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Afghanistan has a growing female suicide problem
Speed Read The Taliban has steadily whittled away women's and girls' rights in Afghanistan over the past 2 years, prompting a surge in depression and suicide
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US life expectancy rose in 2022 but not to pre-pandemic levels
Speed Read Life expectancy is slowly crawling back up
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published