Local health experts attribute zero flu cases to social distancing, mask use
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield holds up his mask as he speaks at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on a "Review of Coronavirus Response Efforts" on Capitol Hill, Sept. 16, 2020, in Washington. Local health officials are attributing the use of masks, social distancing and hand washing with the fact that there has not been one case of influenza reported yet this flu season. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)
Flathead County, along with the rest of Montana, has yet to confirm a single case of influenza this season — an unusual trend that health experts say largely can be attributed to the health and safety measures that have been widely adopted amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services website is showing no confirmed influenza cases, which is a stark difference from the 2019 to 2020 flu season when the state reported 11,255 cases, 514 hospitalizations and 41 deaths due to the virus.
Around this time last year, Montana was just entering the peak of its flu season at about 1,000 cases per week, according to data provided to the state by local county health departments. The cases counts remained high through all of February 2020.
That trend was true in Flathead County, where more than 250 cases had been reported by the start of February last year. Around that time, Gallatin and Yellowstone counties were some of the only areas reporting higher numbers.
And now, this year's peculiar season has caught the attention of Flathead County officials.
The topic was broached during Health Officer Joe Russell’s monthly meeting with the Flathead County commissioners on Tuesday. The three commissioners asked Russell an array of questions related to COVID-19, including ones focused on the effectiveness of mask use, which eventually segued into a brief discussion about the flu.
“Interesting, we always equate this [COVID-19] to the flu. Why have we not had a lab-confirmed case of flu in Flathead County? Social distancing and mask use,” said Russell, who added that the lack of cases cannot be attributed to a decrease in testing for the flu.
For example, if someone goes to the hospital to get tested for COVID-19 and that test comes back negative, Russell said “mark my words, they’re going to look for influenza.”
The latest data from the Flathead City-County Health Department, which was presented at the Board of Health’s monthly meeting on Thursday, shows Flathead County has not experienced an influenza hospitalization since April 2020 and has not recorded an influenza-related death in over a year.
Pete Heyboer, a local doctor who serves on the Board of Health, said this season’s flat influenza curve is validation that measures such as social distancing, mask wearing and frequent hand washing are effective in reducing the spread of communicable diseases.
“Everything we’ve done for COVID has caused a marked decrease in the flu,” said Heyboer, who also encouraged the public to continue practicing those measures for COVID-19, even though new cases of the virus are trending downward in Flathead County. “There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I think we see that. But it’s not time for a COVID party.”
Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@dailyinterlake.com