Health experts hope to use data from cases like Mike McMahan, who reported flu-like symptoms but tested negative for the flu, to identify potential COVID-19 cases before they spread.
Mike McMahon vacationed with his family at Disney World in late January. Back in Boston a few days later, he started to feel lousy.flu test
The data show more people than usual reported flu-like symptoms while positive flu tests declined. Meanwhile, pneumonia deaths continued to rise. Typically, all three metrics rise and fall together.Some researchers now hope to use that data to detect and respond to the next big coronavirus outbreak as early as possible.
In Massachusetts, the flu season seemed to peak in the first week of February. Roughly 7% of people visiting hospitals reported flu-like symptoms, including McMahon.“The prevalence of flu in the community dropped off dramatically,” said Dr. Saul Weingart, chief medical officer at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.State data shows another spike in the third week of March as the percentage of patients reporting a cough and fever grew to 7%.
“There were definitely patients that I saw in January and February who I tested for flu, and the flu test was negative … that very well may have had COVID-19,” said Dr. Arvind Venkat, an emergency physician at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.At the same time positive flu tests declined, more people were dying from pneumonia, which is typically caused by the flu or related bacterial infections.
“Without a doubt” some of the unclassified pneumonia deaths from this year include uncounted COVID-19 cases and could help explain the unusually high number of fatalities, said Dr. Matthew Boulton from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.
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