NAPLES, Fla. — October to May is considered flu season, and the ICU & COVID Medical Director of NCH Healthcare said he expects to see more cases of the flu this season.
Dr. David Lindner said for the first time in his career, NCH Healthcare did not have one patient come into the ICU with influenza last flu season. It was also a first in the ICU's history.
"Every year, we would have somebody who would lose their life because of either influenza, or particularly RSV," Dr. Lindner said.
He said healthcare professionals worried an influx in flu cases on top of a COVID-19 pandemic would overwhelm hospitals, but influenza was exceptionally low across the country. Dr. Lindner thinks masks and social distancing are the reasons why.
"The mitigation efforts that people were practicing pretty much community wide, until people got tired of it," he said. “These things that we did prevent viral diseases."
Dr. Lindner said now that people are masking and social distancing less frequently, we'll likely see more cases of influenza and RSV this year.
