[scotty79]

It's best to remeber that even if covid was in all aspects identical to flu, it will not replace flu. We'll have covid and flu. So even in the best case scenario (which isn't real) we are facing doubling of dmg from seasonal flu.

[nvilcins]

Given that different variants of the same virus outcompete each other (very evident with Covid), why would that not apply to different viruses of similar nature? SARS-CoV2 and Influenza both effectively compete for the same vulnerable population, and abide similar epidemiological dynamics. There is also some level of cross-immunity for corona viruses.

[anders_p]

Covid is caused by a "corona virus".

The Flu is caused by the "influenza virus".

So even though they are both contagious respiratory illnesses, they are caused by completely different viruses.

The reason we've seen far fewer influenza cases these past 2 years isn't related to the 2 viruses out competing eachother.

It's much more likely that the pandemic measures we've had in place, over most of the world, like social distancing, mask wearing, lockdowns, closed borders, etc., has had a greater impact on the flu, because it isn't as contagious as covid.

When we remove the pandemic measures, we're probably going to see the usual flu numbers again.

Maybe even worse than normal, for the first couple of seasons. Since we haven't been as exposed to the flu for 2 years.

[loudmax]

Different strains of Covid compete with each other because antibodies that block one version are very effective at blocking another. If you've recently had Omicron, your body is well prepared to fight off Delta.

If you've already had the flu, your body might have some level of preparedness against a Covid variant, but it's nowhere near the same level. Plenty of people who died from Covid had already experienced the flu at some point in their life. Covid variants compete with each other far more than they do with flu variants.

[drclau]

Influenza is not a coronavirus. There is no cross-immunity.

My guess is that the reason why we've seen a drop in cases of Flu during the Covid pandemic is strictly related to lockdowns and Flu being less infectious than Covid. In other words, the lockdowns were very effective against Flu.

[jhugo]

Well, it has somewhat replaced flu the last couple of years. That might be largely attributable to lockdowns, though.

[bagacrap]

they're not identical but they're also not totally independent. There is a certain percentage of the population that is very vulnerable to both illnesses, yet they can't die twice.