Spanish Flu of 1918 to return? Scientists warns COVID-19 could make seasonal flu worse

The COVID-19 pandemic has been around for over a year, and even as researchers and experts have found several ways to deal with the deadly virus in the form of various vaccine candidates, the fight against SARS-CoV-2 seems anything but over. With the recent discoveries of new strains of the virus, from various places in the world, and the possibility that current vaccines may become redundant after several mutations, researchers are worried about how the current ongoing pandemic will ever see its end. Some findings have also suggested that the novel coronavirus could become seasonal in nature, and parts of the world may see outbreaks at least once a year. The deadly nature of the virus has also caused scientists to look for potential pathogens that can cause any future pandemics, such as the Spanish flu that killed over 50 million people. According to Dr McCauley, director of the Worldwide Influenza Centre, the biggest concern right now is seasonal flu, and he anticipates that a future pandemic is likely to come from a flu strain - despite flagging flu figures.

Covid measures such as social distancing and regularly washing hands have contributed to one of the lowest flu circulations for more than a century, according to Dr McCauley. However, in a post-COVID world with reduced immunity and diseases such as COVID-19 already affecting people, the risk of common viruses such as seasonal flu could be much more. A study posted in the British Medical Journal showed people infected with both coronavirus and flu were twice as likely to die than people infected with just coronavirus. The 1918 influenza pandemic, also known as the Spanish Flu, infected around a third of the world's population and is believed to have originated in birds. The number of deaths from the Spanish Flu is estimated to have been around 50 million, killing more people than World War 1.And Dr McCauley has cautioned that we need to be ready for its return. According to a report in the Sun, "Since we've seen it (Spanish Flu) before, we could see it again. We still need to remain prepared for this type of scale of the event,” said Dr McCauley. "Before coronavirus, the next one that was going to come out and get you was going to be the flu,” he added. "The next one will be flu or another coronavirus. You know that flu can do it, and you now know that coronavirus can do it. So flu hasn't gone off the list, flu remains on the list, flu remains on the list. We were lucky with the first SARS-coronavirus, we haven't been so lucky this time, and there could be other diseases out there,” he explained.