MACON, Ga. — For a few weeks toward the end of last year, we we're hearing about something called the "twindemic," the fear of a strong flu season in the middle of the COVID-19 surge. A couple of viewers wanted to know more about this year's flu season. 13WMAZ spoke with an internal medicine specialist and an infectious disease doctor, and checked with the State Department of Public Health to verify if this year's flu season is less active than in year's past.
Viewer Jimmy Stanley reached out asking what this flu season is like compared to last year's. We set out to verify.
Our sources are an internal medicine hospitalist at Coliseum Medical Centers, an infectious disease specialist, the Georgia Department of Public Health, and the CDC.
According to both the CDC and internal medicine specialist Brandon Kirshner, they say flu activity is low at this time.
Kirshner said, "Yes, flu rates are drastically down this year."
Let's take a look at the numbers.
I reached out directly to DPH, and they provided their latest Influenza report.
Last year, there were 42 flu-related deaths, and over 49,200 doctor visits.
This year, there have been two flu-related deaths so far, which is down 95 percent; and there were 25,600 doctor visits, which is down 68 percent, but why is that?
Kirshner said, "That's the billion-dollar question -- there are a lot of confounding factors to why the flu could be down this year."
Mercer University Infectious Disease Specialist Jennifer Hoffman said, "I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that a lot of people are doing better about wearing a mask, better at social distancing."
Hoffman also credits people getting their flu shot.
According to the CDC, 193.2 million doses of flu vaccine have been distributed.
How does our flu season compare to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Kirshner said: "Now is really the time to not get complacent. Thankfully, we are now seeing a drop in COVID-19 cases. The last thing we want to do is see a spike in flu cases."
According to DPH, in 2020, there were over 9,000 deaths, and over 42,000 hospitalizations in Georgia.
Kirshner also said, "People are in fact getting their flu vaccinations, and their COVID-19 vaccinations, so we just have to keep it going."
One thing to note, across the nation, the flu is down compared to last year, but it is still spreading in Central Georgia.