Would it be realistically possible to eliminate the common flu from the Earth, and would there be any kind of adverse consequences?

Question

Would it be realistically possible to eliminate the common flu from the Earth, and would there be any kind of adverse consequences?

In: Biology

Answer 1

There are some unusual numbers coming out of Australia that imply that not only might it be possible for flu to be “eliminated”- it may actually be happening.

Australia, in 2019, recorded 72,000 flu hospitalizations.

This year: 78.

The public health measures in place against CV19 seem to work wonders against flu.

So what if- just what if- the human flu exchange that occurs annually from the north to southern hemisphere and back- just stops?

The flu authorities who meet this time of year every year to decide what flu variants to include in the annual flu vaccine, are not sure what variants to include, because there is so little of it around.

There might just be something big happening about flu, as a side effect of the CV19 pandemic.

But not permanently: there are still the non-human reservoirs of flu, in pigs, and particularly birds, that would no doubt emerge again over time.