Will Wearing A Face Mask For Covid-19 Also Protect You From The Flu?
Now that we are many months into the coronavirus pandemic, the majority of the public is infinitely more aware of the precautions necessary to help curb the spread of the infectious disease — mask-wearing, social distancing and hand-washing.
And as we near flu season ― which runs from about October to early May every year ― questions around expected flu rates during the pandemic are front of mind for many medical professionals. Hope around reduced flu rates are met with concerns of Covid-19 and influenza co-infection.
Since the pandemic began, the world’s thought process around the spread of infectious diseases has changed, according to Ali Raja, executive vice chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“Specifically, the things that we have done, from wearing masks to hand-washing to physically distancing ourselves to even the cleaning,” Raja said.
As with almost everything with the coronavirus pandemic, there is a level of uncertainty around what to expect from this completely unexpected virus. But there is reason to believe that mask-wearing, along with other precautions, may help lower flu rates this year.
Below, experts shared their thoughts on the impact of Covid-19 mitigation measures on flu rates this fall and winter.
Mask-wearing, and other public health safety methods, are expected to reduce flu rates overall but may vary by region.
Raja said he is hopeful flu rates will drop as a result of the public health safety measures that we’ve taken to prevent Covid-19. H
However, speaking about the situation in the US, Raja noted that there is a unique set of challenges when it comes to virus mitigation.
“We still have to be ready for a typical flu season,” he said. “A lot of the countries that are reporting their flu data going way down actually have much more rigorous and much more universal precautions in place than we do in the US. While I’m really hopeful that our flu rates will drop the same...
