Did Covid-19 help stamp out flu in China’s biggest city?
- The incidence of influenza dropped to almost zero in Shanghai after the coronavirus outbreak last year, a new study finds
- Simple preventive measures introduced to contain the pandemic might have been the key but more research needed, experts say
The incidence of influenza peaked in Shanghai in February, at the height of the Covid-19 outbreak in the city, then dropped sharply to almost zero for the rest of the year, according to analysis of data from 30 hospitals across Shanghai.
In a paper published in the Shanghai Journal of Preventive Medicine on Monday, a team led by Zheng Yaxu from the Shanghai Municipal Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said four of the most common flu strains, including type B influenza and H1N1, disappeared completely.
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A similar trend was reported earlier in Beijing, but to a lesser extent, and sharp declines in flu cases have occurred in other countries. In Chile, Australia and South Africa, only about 0.06 per cent of patients with flu-like symptoms tested positive for the disease from April to July last year, a tiny fraction of the usual 13.7 per cent. In the United States, the average detection rate was 0.2 per cent last year, also considerably lower than previous years, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.