Health professionals warn of return of flu season amid COVID-19

“Everyone was wearing a mask, people were working from home and the kids weren’t in school, so no one was in the community to spread the flu and it’s basically gone,” said Walter Dehority, MD. from the UNM School of Medicine.

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, there were 3 influenza deaths in adults and no deaths in children during the 2020-21 season. In comparison, there were 62 adult deaths and 5 child deaths during the 2019-20 season.

While health officials said flu was virtually non-existent last season, they are worried about an increase in the number this season that could put a strain on the hospital system.

“Every year in the winter, before COVID-19, our hospital was almost packed where we would have kids, for example, having to lie down in the emergency room while waiting for a room,” Dehority said, “so if you take that and you add the cases of COVID-19 that we see, this is a situation that we are trying to prevent. ”

According to Dehority, the symptoms of the flu and COVID-19 are virtually the same, making it difficult for someone to know what they have unless they are tested. Additionally, doctors fear that unvaccinated people could get sick with both.

“We don’t really know what would happen if that did happen, which I think should scare a lot of people off,” Dehority said. “It sure wouldn’t be good, and I imagine it would probably wreak more havoc on the body.”

The UNMH runs free flu vaccination clinics in Albuquerque. To know when and where they take place, visit the UNMH free flu shots webpage or click on the “4Links” tab above.