key: cord-0965022-f34wzlqw
authors: Olsen, Sonja J.; Azziz‐Baumgartner, Eduardo; Budd, Alicia P.; Brammer, Lynnette; Sullivan, Sheena; Pineda, Rodrigo F.; Cohen, Cheryl; Fry, Alicia M.
title: Decreased influenza activity during the COVID‐19 pandemic—United States, Australia, Chile, and South Africa, 2020
date: 2020-12-02
journal: Am J Transplant
DOI: 10.1111/ajt.16381
sha: 643e1187062d12ded0f7ab557c8148c1836cc090
doc_id: 965022
cord_uid: f34wzlqw

Transplant recipients are among the groups for whom the updated recommendations for 2020–2021 influenza vaccination should generally be considered essential, notably in the face of the COVID‐19 pandemic.

for four seasons (2017-2020) are presented. Selected measures implemented to respond to COVID-19 in these countries were ascertained from government websites. All data used were in the public domain.

In the United States, influenza activity (measured by percentage of respiratory specimens submitted for influenza testing that 

What is already known about this topic?

• Influenza activity is currently low in the United States and globally.

• Following widespread adoption of community mitigation measures to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, the percentage of US respiratory specimens submitted for influenza testing that tested positive decreased from >20% to 2.3% and has remained at historically low interseasonal levels (0.2% vs. 1%-2%). Data from Southern Hemisphere countries also indicate little influenza activity. 

Anne von Gottberg, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis

Influenza Division, CDC; MassGenics

Influenza Division, CDC; Chongqing Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Prevention and control of seasonal influenza with vaccines: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices-United States, 2020-21 influenza season

Timing of community mitigation and changes in reported COVID-19 and community mobility-four U.S. metropolitan areas

Collateral benefit of COVID-19 control measures on influenza activity

Impact of public health interventions on seasonal influenza activity during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in Korea

Impact assessment of non-pharmaceutical interventions against coronavirus disease 2019 and influenza in Hong Kong: an observational study

Decreased influenza incidence under COVID-19 control measures

Estimates of the reproduction number for seasonal, pandemic, and zoonotic influenza: a systematic review of the literature

Estimating the impact of school closure on influenza transmission from Sentinel data

Efficacy of face mask in preventing respiratory virus transmission: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Viral interference: the case of influenza viruses