Tag: seasonal flu

Minnesota health officials look to avoid ‘twindemic’ of COVID and flu

Severe flu and COVID-19 surges could tax hospitals but COVID-19 safety precautions might reduce flu cases. 

The start of flu season this fall comes with a heightened concern about a “twindemic” — a surge of COVID-19 cases amid a severe flu season.

The fear is that emergency rooms and intensive care units would be stretched to capacity, as both diseases can cause respiratory complications such as pneumonia.

A twindemic is not inevitable, given COVID-19 safety measures and a mild flu season in the southern half of the globe. Continue reading.

Why public health officials sound more worried about the coronavirus than the seasonal flu

The spread of the new coronavirus, which has infected over 80,000 people worldwide and resulted in the death of more than 3,000, has raised alarms around the world.

At the same time, the seasonal influenza, known as the flu, causes severe illness in between 3 million and 5 million people, with hundreds of thousands of deaths every year worldwide.

With so many fewer cases than the flu, what explains the dramatic response to COVID-19 and worry around the globe? And how would a person know whether seasonal influenza-like symptoms are COVID-19? Continue reading.