Currently, the headlines all across the United Kingdom, and a handful of other nations, are full of references to “Super Flu”.
There is no such thing as “Super Flu”.
It is a term with no scientific meaning or even a solid definition. To confirm this we need look no further than this report from Channel 4 News:
NHS England is calling it a ‘super flu’, which is in fact its own phrase rather than anything scientific.
Or, even more tellingly, there is Devi Shridhar — the High Priestess of Covid hysteria herself — whose Guardian column is headlined “Don’t Call it the Super Flu”, and begins:
I should start by saying “super flu” is not a scientific term or one used by any academics or clinicians I work with. It’s a colloquial phrase that’s been used by various NHS England bosses and taken up by Wes Streeting, the health secretary, and Keir Starmer.
That’s that then. The experts have spoken: “Super Flu” is a colloquial phrase with no actual meaning.
So why does everyone keep describing the incipient flu season in those terms?
To quote Shridar again:
Amid all the noise, it’s difficult to know how bad this flu really is – and how much is political spin.
Isn’t it just?
Maybe it’s time we found out how bad this flu really is, and what about it (if anything) is “super”.
First, we should ask: Doe this flu have different symptoms? Or are the symptoms more severe?
It doesn’t, and they are not, as Dr Giuseppe Aragona tells the Independent [emphasis added]:
The symptoms and severity of H3N2 illness have been similar to seasonal flu, including fever, cough, runny nose, and possibly other symptoms, such as body aches, vomiting, or diarrhoea.
Ok, so its symptoms are common and not unusually severe. Then maybe it’s more transmissible? Or deadly?
Nope. At least, not according to the WHO experts quoted in Politico [emphasis added]:
While hospital admissions have been rising sharply due to the early arrival of flu season, there is currently no evidence that this season’s variant is more deadly or transmissible, experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) told POLITICO.
OK, let’s sum up what we know so far:
- This flu has no unusual symptoms.
- Its symptoms are not unusually severe.
- It is not any more transmissible than normal.
- It is no more deadly than normal.
It seems there is nothing even odd about this flu, let alone “super”.
A lot of the news coverage is focusing on the potential danger to the NHS, with headlines warning this is “beyond catastrophic” and “pushing the NHS to the brink”.
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