Any predictions on how the upcoming flu season will develop?
Will the miniscule case numbers from last year remain low, or will it come rip-roaring back as soon as we’re all unmasked and licking surfaces and people of questionable sanitary status?
Do they have a contender for which strain to vaccinate against?
Normally the US is guided by what strains have been doing the rounds in the Southern Hemisphere winter and vice versa. However, we’ve also had the same massive reduction in influenza transmission, making it a tricky guess.
I’m in the middle of our flu season now. The national tally for all of 2021 to the start of last week was 408 cases, down from a non-covid average of 53,000 at this point, so a fraction of 1%. My guess would be that this provides no guide as to what strains are likely risks for your winter.
I actually got the flu vaccine late last year and plan to do it again this year. Flu can kill people just like COVID can; it’s just that COVID seems to wreck the human body in so many other ways.