With the focus of attention on COVID-19, in recent months little has been said about the flu, which constitutes one of the greatest threats to global public health: each year there are close to one billion cases, of which that between 290,000 and 650,000 are fatal. Before the outbreak of the pandemic caused by the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, an especially harsh flu season was expected in the Northern Hemisphere. However, the data presented by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that the incidence of this disease has been very low in recent weeks. Generally, the peak of the flu occurs in the Northern Hemisphere between February and the end of May. This year, however, the incidence of the disease fell sharply in early April, just weeks after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared.
The WHO emphasizes that these data should be taken with caution, because as a result of the health crisis it is likely that many of the cases of flu have not been registered, since many people with symptoms would have simply stayed at home to avoid going to the center when health services were collapsed. On the other hand, the organization recognizes that “the various hygiene and physical distancing measures implemented by the Member States to reduce the transmission of the SARS-CoV2 virus could also have played a role in interrupting the transmission of the influenza virus .” This hypothesis makes sense, since in both cases the transmission vehicle is the same: droplets and small particles expelled by coughing or sneezing.
Other diseases
In a study published in the journal The Lancet and echoed by Nature , a team of researchers also concluded that movement restriction measures applied in Hong Kong to curb the spread of COVID-19 would also have helped. to stop the transmission of influenza and other infectious diseases. For example, in this region there have also been fewer cases of chickenpox, and worldwide the incidence of measles and rubella has also been much lower, probably due to the closure of schools. As reported in the Nature report, social distancing may also have caused a lower incidence of diseases that are transmitted through sexual contact.
Diseases affected by the pandemic
But it is not all good news: the health crisis also jeopardizes important progress that was being made in the fight against other diseases. One of them would be tuberculosis: a report published by the international organization Stop TB estimated that a three-month hiatus in programs to combat the disease could cause more than a million additional deaths worldwide during the next five years.
The same happens with malaria: as researcher Elena Gómez Díaz told us a few weeks ago, the malaria parasite mutates very quickly, so stopping treatment and vaccination programs can be a window for new strains to appear and there is a significant setback in the fight against this disease.
The health authorities also recall that, despite the coronavirus crisis, we must not stop going to hospitals for fear of being infected when we are in an emergency situation, such as a heart attack. The WHO has also recalled that vaccination campaigns cannot be interrupted: “For every child who stops vaccinating so as not to get COVID-19, a hundred can die.”
