And Covid appears to have had the same effect on the Influenza B/Yamagata lineage.
Yep. By masking up and keeping our distance, we not only limited the spread of Covid, but also the spread of Influenza viruses. And while three of the four main strains did make a bit of a comeback after the Covid lockdown, it was all too much for the Influenza B/Yamagata lineage, and it appears to have died out completely.
This surprised many who study influenza, as it would be the first documented instance of a virus going extinct due to changes in human behaviour.
Actually amazing.
And this means that – because there have been no cases on B/Yamagata in the US since Spring 2020 – they are leaving it out of the upcoming seasonal influenza vaccine. Not only is this more cost effective, it also means that more vaccines can be made and distributed in the same time period.
I had a look at our South Africa Influenza data, because given the amount of global travel, there’s limited use in removing any strain from the US vaccine if it’s still prevalent elsewhere.
Influenza single infections where a subtype/lineage could be determined were dominated by A(H1N1)pdm09 (67.4%, 580/860) followed by B/Victoria (30.6%, 263/860). Low numbers of influenza A(H3N2) (1.9%, 17/860) were detected. Influenza B/Yamagata was not detected.
Emphasis by me, but only to save you some reading time, and it still counts.
If you want to read to whole NICD report into the 2024 Influenza season in South Africa, here it is.
Once again, SA was well protected by the Influenza vaccine on offer, the powers that be having nailed the likely suspects very early on and included them all in the local vaccine. I have said it before, and I’ll say it again: Get Your Flu Jab as early as you possibly can. Infections in 2024 started in Week 1 of the year!
And influenza isn’t nice:
For the first two days you think you’re going to die. For the next five, you wish you had.
The flu jab WORKS! This is a virus we understand well, which is predictable, and with which we have been dealing with for many, many years. If you have the jab and then you end up getting sick, it’s almost certainly NOT FLU! Covid? Maybe – we’re completely unprotected against that here in SA. A nasty cold? Yep – those can happen and they’re horrible, but they’re nowhere near as bad as Influenza.
Although it seems likely that you won’t be vaccinated against B/Yamagata next time around, simply because you won’t have to be.
Because we killed it.