Shelby Review

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began and our way of life changed dramatically, the cases of influenza being reported across Michigan are greatly reduced when compared to previous years, according to Bridge Michigan.

The coronavirus has been very damaging for Michigan citizens. However, the pandemic-related safety measures have actually provided the protection that has caused this year's flu cases to drop to near zero. Those safety provisions seem to reduce some other respiratory infections as well.

During the height of an average flu season, the last week in February, the state’s monitoring program has revealed just four new cases of the flu. That number comes up short when compared to the 488 new cases reported at this time last year. There were 284 cases reported in 2019 and 536 cases were reported in 2018 during the same week.

Parents and teachers understand that the winter months always bring a seemingly endless cycle of common colds and other less deadly viruses. However, since the pandemic, those, too, are on the decline. Experts report that this year was the first year that they haven't had any flu symptoms themselves.

“This is the first winter that I haven't had the sniffles, even for a day,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, a public health doctor with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), told Bridge Michigan. "It has been delightful.”

Though health authorities do not typically track common cold or other respiratory symptoms, three health experts asked by Bridge Michigan echoed Bagdasarian’s thoughts. 

Doctors at John Hopkins University School of Medicine also confirm the flu numbers are down this winter.

“Though caused by a different virus from the one that causes COVID-19, the flu is also a respiratory viral disease, so everything we are doing to slow transmission of COVID-19 -- such as wearing face masks, frequent handwashing and physical distancing -- should also reduce transmission of flu,” said Eili Klein, PhD, associate professor of emergency medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, according to the John Hopkins Newsroom.

After warning in the fall of a likely “twindemic,” a surge in coronavirus cases in the middle of this year's flu season, experts can perhaps breathe a sigh of relief now that spring is coming.