APNews: Amid COVID-19 pandemic, flu has disappeared in the US

[dfspcc20]

Amid COVID-19 pandemic, flu has disappeared in the US

NEW YORK (AP) — February is usually the peak of flu season, with doctors' offices and hospitals packed with suffering patients. But not this year.

apnews.com

Hopefully even the most naïve can spot the inconsistencies here with the predominant story.

"The recent COVID-19 outbreaks are because people were non-compliant"

But...

"The Flu disappeared because of how compliant people were."

But of course, the push for more Flu vaccines will likely be seen as the savior.

------

NEW YORK (AP) — February is usually the peak of flu season, with doctors’ offices and hospitals packed with suffering patients. But not this year.

Flu has virtually disappeared from the U.S., with reports coming in at far lower levels than anything seen in decades.

Experts say that measures put in place to fend off the coronavirus — mask wearing, social distancing and virtual schooling — were a big factor in preventing a “twindemic” of flu and COVID-19. A push to get more people vaccinated against flu probably helped, too, as did fewer people traveling, they say.

Another possible explanation: The coronavirus has essentially muscled aside flu and other bugs that are more common in the fall and winter. Scientists don’t fully understand the mechanism behind that, but it would be consistent with patterns seen when certain flu strains predominate over others, said Dr. Arnold Monto, a flu expert at the University of Michigan.

Nationally, “this is the lowest flu season we’ve had on record,” according to a surveillance system that is about 25 years old, said Lynnette Brammer of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hospitals say the usual steady stream of flu-stricken patients never materialized.

At Maine Medical Center in Portland, the state’s largest hospital, “I have seen zero documented flu cases this winter,” said Dr. Nate Mick, the head of the emergency department.

Ditto in Oregon’s capital city, where the outpatient respiratory clinics affiliated with Salem Hospital have not seen any confirmed flu cases.

“It’s beautiful,” said the health system’s Dr. Michelle Rasmussen.

The numbers are astonishing considering flu has long been the nation’s biggest infectious disease threat. In recent years, it has been blamed for 600,000 to 800,000 annual hospitalizations and 50,000 to 60,000 deaths.

Across the globe, flu activity has been at very low levels in China, Europe and elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere. And that follows reports of little flu in South Africa, Australia and other countries during the Southern Hemisphere’s winter months of May through August.

The story of course has been different with coronavirus, which has killed more than 500,000 people in the United States. COVID-19 cases and deaths reached new heights in December and January, before beginning a recent decline.

Flu-related hospitalizations, however, are a small fraction of where they would stand during even a very mild season, said Brammer, who oversees the CDC’s tracking of the virus.

Flu death data for the whole U.S. population is hard to compile quickly, but CDC officials keep a running count of deaths of children. One pediatric flu death has been reported so far this season, compared with 92 reported at the same point in last year’s flu season.

“Many parents will tell you that this year their kids have been as healthy as they’ve ever been, because they’re not swimming in the germ pool at school or day care the same way they were in prior years,” Mick said.

Some doctors say they have even stopped sending specimens for testing, because they don’t think flu is present. Nevertheless, many labs are using a CDC-developed “multiplex test” that checks specimens for both the coronavirus and flu, Brammer said.

More than 190 million flu vaccine doses were distributed this season, but the number of infections is so low that it’s difficult for CDC to do its annual calculation of how well the vaccine is working, Brammer said. There’s simply not enough data, she said.

That also is challenging the planning of next season’s flu vaccine. Such work usually starts with checking which flu strains are circulating around the world and predicting which of them will likely predominate in the year ahead.

“But there’s not a lot of (flu) viruses to look at,” Brammer said.

 

[Perry Staltic]

Annual Flu Deaths Scam Unwittingly Exposed and Replaced by the COVID Deaths Scam

During the past 10 years that Health Impact News has been publishing the truth about vaccines and exposing the corruption and lies in the pharmaceutical industry and their marketing branch, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), regarding the annual flu statistics, we have usually run...

healthimpactnews.com

 

[LucyL]

This came out today -

Asked my local doc about the flu, and he said the reduction was due to social distancing, and COVID being much more contagious. As much as I hope that the determination comes down that office buildings are deadly and we should never have to go back to working in them, I don't think that's the full story.

It wasn't just the flu that disappeared, RSV also vanished, and probably a bunch of other "contagious" illnessess too.

 

[dfspcc20]

office buildings are deadly

Ain't that the truth. School buildings as well.

 

[YamnayaMommy]

While I'm VERY opposed to the governmental responses to the coronavirus spread, I have no trouble believing that the level of social distancing and masking has stopped the spread of the flu, even if it hasn't been sufficient to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which is said to be more contagious than the flu.

Do you know anyone who has had the flu this season? I do not. But I know many people (including me and all my family) who have been infected with the coronavirus.
In the winter of 2019-2020, there were at least two strains of flu going around the Northside of Chicago. Everyone had the flu, and it was awful. Way worse, in fact, than the coronavirus.

And I don't think this is a case of people getting the flu and thinking they got the coronavirus, because the coronavirus symptoms are so weird and distinct--the muscle soreness around the chest, the anosmia, etc.

To be clear, I'm opposed to universal masking and social distancing measures. Contagions are a pain, but OBVIOUSLY it's much better to have an open and functional society with some spread of flu and coronavirus infections than to have a closed, dysfunctional society with coronavirus spread and no flu.

 

[dfspcc20]

While I'm VERY opposed to the governmental responses to the coronavirus spread, I have no trouble believing that the level of social distancing and masking has stopped the spread of the flu, even if it hasn't been sufficient to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which is said to be more contagious than the flu.

Do you know anyone who has had the flu this season? I do not. But I know many people (including me and all my family) who have been infected with the coronavirus.
In the winter of 2019-2020, there were at least two strains of flu going around the Northside of Chicago. Everyone had the flu, and it was awful. Way worse, in fact, than the coronavirus.

And I don't think this is a case of people getting the flu and thinking they got the coronavirus, because the coronavirus symptoms are so weird and distinct--the muscle soreness around the chest, the anosmia, etc.

To be clear, I'm opposed to universal masking and social distancing measures. Contagions are a pain, but OBVIOUSLY it's much better to have an open and functional society with some spread of flu and coronavirus infections than to have a closed, dysfunctional society with coronavirus spread and no flu.

I'm open to these ideas. But, if that is true (namely that COVID-19 is just that much more contagious than the flu), then that brings up these concerns for me.

- People, in general, were compliant enough with social distancing that they practically eliminated a highly contagious disease like the flu. This should be lauded. Instead it seems the predominant story places the blame on people not being compliant enough. How dare they want to visit friends/family they hadn't seen all year?!? Or have their kids actually interact with other humans face-to-face!?!

- Despite these efforts, it barely made a dent and COVID-19 still ran amok. What else could have been done, other than a hard "nobody leave their house" lockdown for 30, 60, 90 days?


Again, this takes a lot for granted in regard to what viral contagion actually is, much which I'm not totally convinced of.

 

[Perry Staltic]

And I don't think this is a case of people getting the flu and thinking they got the coronavirus, because the coronavirus symptoms are so weird and distinct--the muscle soreness around the chest, the anosmia, etc.

Covid symptoms are non-specific and occur in other illnesses.

 

[YamnayaMommy]

Covid symptoms are non-specific and occur in other illnesses.
My kids, who tested positive, had zero symptoms. They always have symptoms with normal colds and flus.

I woke up on Halloween morning with distinctive muscle pains around my upper back, and felt kinda of crummy and developed a cough. I’ve never had muscle pains like that before.

my husband, sisters, their husbands, my parents, and my 90yo granny all lost their sense of smell. Never happened before.

Cases were all mild, totally unserious.

for me and my family, the covid symptoms were clearly distinguishable from symptoms of other illnesses we’ve had.

 

[YamnayaMommy]

I'm open to these ideas. But, if that is true (namely that COVID-19 is just that much more contagious than the flu), then that brings up these concerns for me.

- People, in general, were compliant enough with social distancing that they practically eliminated a highly contagious disease like the flu. This should be lauded. Instead it seems the predominant story places the blame on people not being compliant enough. How dare they want to visit friends/family they hadn't seen all year?!? Or have their kids actually interact with other humans face-to-face!?!

- Despite these efforts, it barely made a dent and COVID-19 still ran amok. What else could have been done, other than a hard "nobody leave their house" lockdown for 30, 60, 90 days?


Again, this takes a lot for granted in regard to what viral contagion actually is, much which I'm not totally convinced of.

Yeah I agree with all of this. The response all around has been insane and we should fire all the people responsible for it.

 

[YamnayaMommy]

Yeah I agree with all of this. The response all around has been insane and we should fire all the people responsible for it.

I'm open to these ideas. But, if that is true (namely that COVID-19 is just that much more contagious than the flu), then that brings up these concerns for me.

- People, in general, were compliant enough with social distancing that they practically eliminated a highly contagious disease like the flu. This should be lauded. Instead it seems the predominant story places the blame on people not being compliant enough. How dare they want to visit friends/family they hadn't seen all year?!? Or have their kids actually interact with other humans face-to-face!?!

- Despite these efforts, it barely made a dent and COVID-19 still ran amok. What else could have been done, other than a hard "nobody leave their house" lockdown for 30, 60, 90 days?


Again, this takes a lot for granted in regard to what viral contagion actually is, much which I'm not totally convinced of.

Although, I gotta say the silver lining has been not having every flu and cold running through our house this year. We’re healthier than we’ve ever been. And that’s huge when you’ve got babies and toddlers who can’t blow their noses or sleep through the night when they’re sick.

 

[gaze]

While I'm VERY opposed to the governmental responses to the coronavirus spread, I have no trouble believing that the level of social distancing and masking has stopped the spread of the flu, even if it hasn't been sufficient to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which is said to be more contagious than the flu.

your making a huge assumption that people are actually social distancing. Think about all the times people break the rules, nearly every single college in america has kids still throwing house parties, people still get together in homes, etc. in many places, flu rates are at dead 0. like not even 1 case for months. It's impossible for that to be from social distancing, when a large portion of people aren't social distancing.

 

[mrchibbs]

your making a huge assumption that people are actually social distancing. Think about all the times people break the rules, nearly every single college in america has kids still throwing house parties, people still get together in homes, etc. in many places, flu rates are at dead 0. like not even 1 case for months. It's impossible for that to be from social distancing, when a large portion of people aren't social distancing.

Dead on. So insane that after I year I still have to get into insane arguments with people in my entourage who fail to realize the insanity of what's happening.

The flu doesn't disappear, it never has and never will.

The only thing which has happened over the past year is media manipulating public hysteria, WHO declaring ''a pandemic'' and renaming all flu/respiratory cases to ''covid-19''.

 

[YamnayaMommy]

Presumably this all varies regionally. On the north side of Chicago, the social distancing and masking measures are pretty strictly observed and I’ve known of no one who has gotten the flu. And my daughter goes to kindergarten at an in person (catholic) school, where the children wear masks and there are social distancing measures taken to reduce spread among school community. It has worked very well. No covid spread, and no flu.

again, I’m not defending the insane coronavirus response, just pointing out that it does seem to have worked to reduce spread of the flu.

 

[Unknownuser]

That makes total sense for average Joe. So they get along with it. Just like as with any BS before like the war on Terror etc.

 

[Steve]

Dead on. So insane that after I year I still have to get into insane arguments with people in my entourage who fail to realize the insanity of what's happening.

The flu doesn't disappear, it never has and never will.

The only thing which has happened over the past year is media manipulating public hysteria, WHO declaring ''a pandemic'' and renaming all flu/respiratory cases to ''covid-19''.

"The only thing which has happened over the past year is media manipulating public hysteria, WHO declaring ''a pandemic'' and renaming all flu/respiratory cases to ''covid-19''.

If I had to guess I'd vote as your statement above to be most likely.

 

[YamnayaMommy]

"The only thing which has happened over the past year is media manipulating public hysteria, WHO declaring ''a pandemic'' and renaming all flu/respiratory cases to ''covid-19''.

If I had to guess I'd vote as your statement above to be most likely.

What’s your evidence that flu cases are being labeled as covid?

I think the opposition to governmental response needs to be made in terms of its unconstitutionality and in terms of the low risk presented by the disease. You don’t need to hang your hat on conspiracy theories that people are sick from the flu and not covid. More importantly, covid is not as dangerous as the flu for many people, especially children.

 

[Steve]

What’s your evidence that flu cases are being labeled as covid?

I think the opposition to governmental response needs to be made in terms of its unconstitutionality and in terms of the low risk presented by the disease. You don’t need to hang your hat on conspiracy theories that people are sick from the flu and not covid. More importantly, covid is not as dangerous as the flu for many people, especially children.

Just trying to think of it in terms of common sense. There's no way the flu was eradicated. It is already proven that the PCR test is fraudulent and leads to false-positives. So let's say someone is sick with the flu. They are freaked out that they have Covid, so they go get a fraudulent test which says they are positive for Covid, and there you have it.

There's just no way, in my opinion, the flu is basically eradicated all of a sudden.
I'll admit I could be wrong, but it just seems highly unlikely.

 

[Perry Staltic]

What’s your evidence that flu cases are being labeled as covid?

Flu is just a general term for various symptoms. What's your evidence that all flu cases are caused by a virus? Very few flu tests are done to determine if each flu patient has flu virus.

 

[Perry Staltic]

Just trying to think of it in terms of common sense. There's no way the flu was eradicated. It is already proven that the PCR test is fraudulent and leads to false-positives. So let's say someone is sick with the flu. They are freaked out that they have Covid, so they go get a fraudulent test which says they are positive for Covid, and there you have it.

They don't have to even test positive. There is an example I recently posted in which the patient tested negative multiple times, yet the doctors assumed he had covid, so they treated him for same, and he died.

 

[tankasnowgod]

While I'm VERY opposed to the governmental responses to the coronavirus spread, I have no trouble believing that the level of social distancing and masking has stopped the spread of the flu, even if it hasn't been sufficient to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which is said to be more contagious than the flu.

Why? There's absolutely no proof that medical experiments like social distancing or mask wearing work, especially when applied in a haphazard way.

There have been plenty of studies posted on this forum showing that mask wearing in certain situations INCREASES the risk of colds and the flu. Which makes sense, since wearing them for an extended period of time causes lung strain, and forces you to re-breathe increased levels of bacteria. Strapping a petri dish on your face seems a surefire way to increase risk of illness.

This is a just a way to spin what likely happened- Almost all "flu" cases were rebranded as "Covid 19." The symptoms are exactly the same.

When you really get down to it, doctors usually can't find a "flu" virus in flu patients anyway-

Welcome to the Medical Matrix: the Flu isn’t the Flu « Jon Rappoport's Blog

There are many propaganda operations surrounding the flu. Here I just want to boil down a few boggling facts.

Dr. Peter Doshi, writing in the online BMJ (British Medical Journal), reveals one monstrosity.

As Doshi states, every year, hundreds of thousands of respiratory samples are taken from flu patients in the US and tested in labs. Here is the kicker: only a small percentage of these samples show the presence of a flu virus.

This means: most of the people in America who are diagnosed by doctors with the flu have no flu virus in their bodies.

So they don’t have the flu.

Actually, most flu cases are “bacteria cases,” “fungal cases,” or “pollution cases,” or “tainted food” cases, or “eating GMO cases,” or “weak immune system” cases, or something else. But they aren’t the flu.

Here’s the exact quote from Peter Doshi’s BMJ review, “Influenza: marketing vaccines by marketing disease” (BMJ 2013; 346:f3037):

“…even the ideal influenza vaccine, matched perfectly to circulating strains of wild influenza and capable of stopping all influenza viruses, can only deal with a small part of the ‘flu’ problem because most ‘flu’ appears to have nothing to do with influenza. Every year, hundreds of thousands of respiratory specimens are tested across the US. Of those tested, on average 16% are found to be influenza positive.

“…It’s no wonder so many people feel that ‘flu shots’ don’t work: for most flus, they can’t.”

Because most diagnosed cases of the flu aren’t the flu.

This shouldn't be all that shocking to those here. Peat has stated that most "flu" symptoms are from elevated endotoxin-

The "Flu" May Be Simply A Sign/Symptom Of Elevated Endotoxin

Ray has said a number of times that he thinks the majority of "flu" cases are simply symptoms of toxicity caused by increased levels of endotoxin in the blood. It seems that he may have been right about this. The study I am posting here is interesting for two reasons. One of them is more or less...

raypeatforum.com