As Covid dissipates in the U.S., cold and flu viruses may return with a vengeance

[swag]

https://www.statnews.com/2021/05/27/as-covid-dissipates-cold-flu-viruses-return-vengeance-2/

By Helen Branswell

A curious thing happened during the Covid-19 pandemic: With masks, social distancing, and Purell galore, we kept most other germs at bay.

Flu vanished. Cases of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which in a normal winter puts nearly 60,000 children under age 5 in the hospital, were nonexistent. Most of us appeared to sidestep the soup of bugs that cause colds.

But as masks come off, schools reopen, and some travel resumes, we should expect a resurgence of these viruses — perhaps a big one. Some experts fear we’re in for a nasty cold-and-flu season or two, pointing to a combination of factors that could make for a rough re-entry to the mixed microbes world.

“When they come back there’s going to be vulnerability and probably greater levels of infections,” Ben Cowling, an infectious diseases researcher at Hong Kong University, said of the various bugs. “Everyone’s going to be complaining about colds probably next winter.”

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[Ocelot II]

1. Which is why I'm not going to throw away my masks.

[bahboo]

2. ditto...

[Skittles]

3. seems like something all those people not wearing masks will get

oh dear

[marie999]

4. I don't see any reason to stop wearing a mask for ever.

[marmar]

5. I'll be masking during cold and flu season too.

[moriah]

6. I've always been the person who gets sick when others just feel a little puny.

As a result, I was "social distancing" before it was cool, though without masks.

Before that -- if I lived with roommates who had school-aged kids, even on the weekends... I'd get severe colds that often exacerbated my asthma badly enough to require an admission. When I lived renting a room from a guy who was renting to two other adults, we all got the flu (I had no insurance that year, it was just before Obamacare came into effect, so no shot) and was in the hospital a week.

If I go on a trip.... I will catch at least one of whatever regional germ is around that somebody is incubating because they can work through the mild fatigue it's causing them.

So I'm not worried truly about a rebound worse than normal, in the way the article is saying, for me. Long before this I had been shielding myself from school-age children, long exposure to lots of people in enclosed spaces, and congregate living situations. Any "t-cell immunity" from constant low-level germ exposure that they're talking about was something I didn't have pre-COVID.

Yeah, I do imagine a lot more will be going around. COVID itself will likely still be in the mix, too, even if Pfizer gets full approval so those who are afraid they won't get compensated if it makes them grow a third arm or something will not have THAT excuse to not get the shot.

So I won't judge those who continue to mask, or those who are vaccinated who choose not to.