What is the “twin epidemic” that immunologists are now alerting to, and what do they say we should do?

It is the new word that we have to learn in the intense and extensive vocabulary that the pandemic brought us.

We learned what a coronavirus was, a PCR, an EPI, a strain, a variant, a subvariant, a mutation, an ARM vaccine… And now it’s time to learn and understand what a “TWIN DEMIA” is.

Because that is what right now, and with a view to the near future, most worries those responsible for health in the majority of the countries of the northern hemisphere: the coincidence in time and space of two endemic, pandemic and epidemic diseases, like the flu and the .

The expression comes from the suffix “demia”, which we are used to seeing at the end of various words, but perhaps we do not know what it means “human diseases”.

Therefore, according to the RAE:

• endemic It is the “disease that reigns habitually, or at fixed times, in a country or region”
• Pandemic It is the “epidemic disease that extends to many countries or that attacks almost all the individuals of a locality or region”
• Epidemic It is the disease that spreads for some time throughout a country, simultaneously affecting a large number of people.

The first to use that word to launch an alert have been specialists from the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to alert about the dangers of the cold that is approaching. freepik

Who’s talking about Twin Demia?

The first to use that word to launch an alert have been the specialists of the (UKHSA, for its acronym in English) to alert about the dangers of the approaching cold.

Because this time the threat is double.

• A resurgence of the coronavirus, which could be starting already, could be joined by a flu that in the southern hemisphere has proven more serious and dangerous.

And it’s not a trivial matter, as research in 2020 found that people diagnosed with the flu and COVID at the same time were twice as likely to die.

It could be the first twin Demia

This winter could be the first time we see the effects of the so-called ‘twin demic’, with COVID and the flu in full circulation, according to forecasts made by experts.

And if both one and the other have repeatedly demonstrated their capacity to push health services and hospital centers to the limit, both at the same time can subject them to a collapse with disastrous consequences.

Because a disease that is not very serious, but with the , can cause deaths that in other circumstances would not occur.

That’s why they insist that everyone who can get both vaccines and do so as soon as possible, so they can protect themselves and those around them.

Can we avoid this serious risk to public health?

That is what the experts are trying to launch the alert about the “twin demic”.

And the reality is that it is possible, at least, to minimize its effects. But only if we get a mass vaccination against both threats.

Flu forecasts for this year call for an early resurgence of the infection with the potential to cause serious illness. That is why we must get vaccinated as soon as possible.

The twin deemia disease is not very serious, but with uncontrolled infections and saturated hospitals, it can cause deaths that in other circumstances would not occur EFE

Also from COVID, because they expect it to be triggered in the form of a great wave, which according to the data would already be brewing.

Flu: more contagious and more serious

When it comes to the flu, this year we find ourselves with a double threat.

• On the one hand, the COVID restrictions were able to keep the flu at incredibly low numbers.

• On the other hand, the H3N2 strain is an “old” acquaintance that brings back bad memories.

And this combination poses a serious health risk, even for groups we wouldn’t normally consider high risk.

As one of the medical directives of the British health service explains very well:

1. “From what we’ve seen in Australia, we have strong indications that a very contagious flu is threatening us.”

2. “We’re caught with very low levels of natural immunity, because we’ve had very little exposure to the virus over the past few winters.”

And it is that the strain that is expected, H3N2, was already responsible for the last severe flu season in the United Kingdom, in 2017-18, and caused an excess of 22,000 deaths and double the number of hospital admissions.

In addition, experts such as Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at the , warn that the low levels of influenza in recent winters mean that almost no one has natural immunity against the disease.

And that poses an added risk. Because as she said to:

• “This winter we are particularly concerned that the infections could have a much greater impact and could cause problems in people who would not normally be included in the vaccination campaign.”

In the United Kingdom, infections have already increased by 20% and are expected to continue growing EFE

COVID has already started to rise in the UK

In Spain we have not yet entered the new season of COVID, but as we have learned over the years, the news of what is happening in other countries is a preview of what will happen to us.

And what is happening in the UK?

Well, according to alerts from the Health Service, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are increasing after a sustained decline that began in early July.

And the data already register increases of close to 20%, which is why the health authorities are beginning to speak of a “resurgence of the coronavirus”.

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