Washington flu deaths dropped from 114 last season to 0. There are a few reasons why
Washington’s flu deaths dropped from 114 to zero in a year’s time, thanks to coronavirus protocols and an abundance of caution, health officials say.
From October through Feb. 20 there have been no deaths from “influenza-like illness” or flu outbreaks reported in long-term care facilities, the Washington Department of Health said.
Washington reported 70 deaths during the same time frame last flu season and 114 deaths overall.
Each flu season begins in October and runs for a year, though cases usually peak in the winter months.
Health officials say “similar trends” have been seen nationally and globally, McClatchy News reported. In the U.S., flu activity has been “lower than usual for this time of year,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Precautions in place to help curb the spread of COVID-19 have played a major role in slowing down the 2020-21 flu season, health officials say.
People continue to practice what health officials call the three W’s: wearing a mask, washing their hands often and waiting 6 feet apart, McClatchy News reported.
“The precautions we’re taking against COVID-19, such as washing your hands, staying home when sick, and avoiding others, also help protect you from other respiratory diseases, including flu,” Danielle Koenig, a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Health, told McClatchy News in an email. “Because we’re doing these things far more this year than we typically do, we can see the effects of that!”
Erica Wilson, a medical epidemiologist with the North Carolina Department of Health, also attributed her state’s low numbers to extra precautions people have been taking to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Health officials also noted the importance of an “increased emphasis on maximizing influenza vaccination coverage in order to reduce the burden of influenza-related respiratory illnesses on the public’s health and the health care system,” according to the CDC.
Koenig says more adults have been vaccinated against the flu this season compared to last season.
The CDC surveyed nearly 3,600 people in September and 59% said they had been or planned to be vaccinated during the 2020-2021 flu season compared to 52.2% last season.
The news of no flu deaths in Washington comes as the state nears 5,000 COVID-19 deaths since its first patient died on Feb. 28 of last year. There have been 4,969 COVID-19 deaths in Washington and 514,657 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University.
There are 321,881 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Washington, according to the state health department. The U.S. has reported more than 28.6 million cases as of Tuesday.
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 1:26 PM with the headline "Washington flu deaths dropped from 114 last season to 0. There are a few reasons why."