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[ChairmanPoo]

As a side effect of the global anti-corona measures, the flu has been nearly eradicated.

https://www.who.int/influenza/gisrs_laboratory/updates/summaryreport/en/


Makes me slightly worried though. If the corona lockdowns are over, how much more ill are we going to get from the flu for lack of training of our immune system with it when it comes back?

It doesnīt work on a training basis. Anyway, my suspicion is that itīs not quite true, or rather, that thereīs more to the story than that. I think itīs a combination of "not looking for the flu" (eg negative PCR patients with covid-like symptoms) and the ones who would get very sick with the flu being very sick with covid

Nah no translation garble. The word for hobby in both Belgian and english is hobby.

As for enforcement, the Belgian government has said that they trust the parents to be responsible.
Haha. We've seen were that has lead to here, saying to trust the people to be responsible.

THEY KILL POOR INNOCENT PIANOS.


EDIT: in other news, the row between the EU and AstraZeneca escalates. AstraZeneca refuses to talk to Brussels.

Merkel is now preparing the German troops to invade the UK, to secure the vaccin.
This should be a breeze now that the UK is grounding all it's planes.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/we-have-not-pulled-out-astrazeneca-will-meet-eu-to-discuss-vaccine-delivery-delays-1.4469022

‘We have not pulled out’: AstraZeneca will meet EU to discuss vaccine delivery delays
EU Commission had earlier said the pharmaceutical company was refusing to attend

If they didnīt pull out no wonder the EU is pissed. Thatīs 18 years of bad luck.

[Starver]

This should be a breeze now that the UK is grounding all it's planes.

That's what we want you to think!!! (Although by the time they're developed, the place they're being made at will probably be outwith the UK and in the EU again. )

[martinuzz]

Anyway, my suspicion is that itīs not quite true, or rather, that thereīs more to the story than that. I think itīs a combination of "not looking for the flu" (eg negative PCR patients with covid-like symptoms) and the ones who would get very sick with the flu being very sick with covid

Nope, clinical virologist Mariet Feltkamp says that all patients with pneumonia like symptoms in hospital were tested for 14 virusses, including flu. None of the test showed any sign of influenza in the labs.

"we have not found a single case of the flu. If all our labs cannot find any influenza, we have to assume it is no longer circulating"

It's just that the R value for influenza is much lower than that for corona to start with.  All our corona measures might have trouble getting corona's R down, but they had no trouble stopping the spread of influenza.

EDIT: of all 200863 flu-like symptoms investigated by the WHO between january and february (which is normally high peak flu season) worldwide, 409 (0,2%) were actually the flu.

The 40 GPs in the Netherlands that have a sample function for keeping track of airway afflictions, take samples from all their patients with airway complaints and send them to the lab. They 'have not seen a single case of flu or RS virus in months'.

People still get the sniffles though, but those are all either corona, or rhinovirusses (common cold). Rhinovirusses are much more sturdy, they can survive longer outside of a host body.

[ChairmanPoo]

Nope, clinical virologist Mariet Feltkamp says that all patients with pneumonia like symptoms in hospital were tested for 14 virusses, including flu

Keywords bolded. I've seldom seen people tested for the flu outside hospital.
Not saying its not much lower mind you, just that the single digit figures that are being reported likely underestimate the real number

[martinuzz]

Complete lack of hospitalization from the flu is a pretty good indicator of it's occurence in general.
Usually, old people flock the hospitals when it's flu season.

The 40 sample GPs over here also don't look at patients in hospital, they look at general population coming in with complaints that range from mild to severe. They found none at all as well.

[ChairmanPoo]

Complete lack of hospitalization from the flu is a pretty good indicator of it's occurence in general.
Usually, old people flock the hospitals when it's flu season.

There might be a competing risk that is sending old patients to the hospital and thus skewering that as an indicator. Just saying...

The 40 sample GPs over here also don't look at patients in hospital, they look at general population coming in with complaints that range from mild to severe. They found none at all as well.

More numbers would be appretiated. How many people did they screen for the flu?

[martinuzz]

Depending on how many people visit the GP with airway complaints, they are testing between 10 and 30 samples each week, so thats a couple a hundreds to a thousand over the past months.

[McTraveller]

No. Pfizer is selling the same sized tube. They are just claiming that if you shake the bottle REAL good, and are REAL good at getting every drop out of the ampule, you can get a 6th vaccination out of it, and they DEMAND to be reimbursed for that shot.

Stupid governments, contracts should have been by the mL or whatever, not the dose.

More efficient use of resources should be rewarded, not penalized.

On the flip side, I imagine the pharmas' liability scales with doses, not mL of liquid.  So perhaps some balance is warranted...

[ChairmanPoo]

I dunno, I obviously canīt talk about those 40 GPs, but  I can tell you that for what Iīve seen in my immediate environment, these days if someone has airway complaints they do covid PCR, not the others unless specifically asked for (which is not happening a lot). TBH it would make much more sense to make the full panel (as it happens with the other resp viruses) but Iīm not seeing it happen these days...

I have a couple of micro acquaitances, I could ask them their take.

No. Pfizer is selling the same sized tube. They are just claiming that if you shake the bottle REAL good, and are REAL good at getting every drop out of the ampule, you can get a 6th vaccination out of it, and they DEMAND to be reimbursed for that shot.

Stupid governments, contracts should have been by the mL or whatever, not the dose.

More efficient use of resources should be rewarded, not penalized.

On the flip side, I imagine the pharmas' liability scales with doses, not mL of liquid.  So perhaps some balance is warranted...

Iīd not take for granted that this will pan out well for the pharma company. In Europe Good Faith laws are common, and even if they dont apply, two can play at the game of finding loopholes.

I think in the US thereīs talk about intervening Moderna under the war act, while Europe is talking about blocking all vaccine exports using the existing trade laws. I dont think anything like this has arisen in China because, well, Chinese pharma companies know better than to piss off the Central Committee.
I think we might see laws curtailing corporate power in the next few months and years, if these pharmaceutical companies insist on pissing off large power blocks.

[martinuzz]

Those 40GPs have been specifically asked for, they are part of an official airway afflictions monitor.
They are selected as a representative sample group for all GP practices in the Netherlands, and they send test samples to the lab from every patient that comes in with airway complaints.

[martinuzz]

Research by our child protective services shows that during the first lockdown, 40000 children became victim of abuse.  That's more than 3 times as much as the same period in the previous year.

Teachers, pedagogues and child psychologists are begging the government to please re-open the schools

[Starver]

Similar concerns here (UK) but not helped by Westminster really having no proper idea of what do about it all (exams, marking, school meals, keep kids in/out/in/out/shake-them-all-about, etc) from one moment to the next. They concentrated so much on 'maintaining normality' that they then had to crash out of that much harder and more sudden when they couldn't.  It seems like it's current image that matters more than the future path.

Boris was in Scotland today to 'inspect' a Lighthouse Laboratory (that probably had to cut down on its work to let him and the press-pack visit), much against the wishes of Nicola. Blatant.

Spoiler: Off-covid (click to show/hide)

He 'also' (probably a large part of his motives) had a few words about Scottish Independence.

"I think endless talk about a referendum without any clear description of what the constitutional situation would be after that referendum is completely irrelevant now to the concerns of most people." / "We don't actually know what the referendum would set out to achieve.". ... Yeah...  *COUGH*brexit*/COUGH*

[martinuzz]

Good news for those people who are afraid of having things shoved up their nose and throat!
In North China, people are now being tested for corona anally.
According to Chinese scientist, using anal samples can detect corona in people who tested negative on throat and nose swabs.

Inb4 Biden opens up Area51 to the public as emergency anal probing centre

[Vector]

The Big Gay is conspiring with The Corona to invade our rectal cavities. Think of the childr- no wait leave room for Jesu- no hmm they're putting the tracking devices up there ah shit

I needed that chuckle, thank you

[Starver]

I've not heard of any firm (NPI?!) results, but we were having testing at sewerage treatment plants to help track the spread of the shed pathogens, by each given catchment area. Probably before it got anywhere near fully rolled out it just indicated that it was virtually everywhere.