Re: During the second wave of COVID‐19, don’t forget about influenza: a call to action
[Author’s title] Covid-19 and influenza: transmitting by air, floating in the air
Sir,
We read with interests the article by F Atallah and colleagues, entitled “During the second wave of COVID‐19, don’t forget about influenza: a call to action”. Co-infection with COVID‐19 and influenza has been reported to be as high as 11.8%. We would like to highlight the suggestion of prevention the authors addressed.
As a recent picture on the internet, which showed that a concert was held in the U.S during the global pandemic, whereas, people crowed in the stadium, though taking masks, the risks of transmission of COVID-19 was intensively discussed. In most people’s mind, if they keep distance with others and taking a mask and they think will be safe. However, I would like to express my dissenting opinion.
As with the transmission of pulmonary tuberculosis,a terrible disease, which has high infectivity and many people suffered from it. What is worse, the mycobacterium tuberculosis in droplets could float in the air, whoever breathe into the lung, they would have the risk to be infected. We would like to highlight that it is the common feature of high infectivity of respiratory tract infectious diseases. People may keep distance, but it is the very air floating droplets containing virus. This may originate from sneeze or cough from the former person at this place. The barriers that healthcare providers face include little knowledge about the effects of the influenza vaccine, inadequate reimbursement and training, and increased workload.
Considering the above, we suggest that people should still restrict the outside activity during pandemic conditions, and do not take off the mask easily outside. Remember, virus of COVID‐19 and influenza, transmitting by air, and could float in the air.
Rui-Hong Xue1,
1International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China