Something to consider about the interference question in the U.S. is that in most of the country in 2020, coronavirus cases didn't get recorded at high levels until that summer or fall. In those states, how could coronavirus have been stifling the influenza viruses? And what about the states, like the Northwest and upper New England, that never recorded a large surge of covid deaths?
As a somewhat random sample, I just went to Utah's influenza surveillance page at https://epi.health.utah.gov/influenza-reports/ The seasonal summaries end with 2018-2019. It's possible the post-2019 summaries are elsewhere, but it is curious. Also, this 1/31/2020 article in the Deseret News is interesting, on the flu vs. covid front:
The reporter wrote: "Influenza, to date, remains more infectious and more deadly than the novel coronavirus strains that popped up recently in China, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Jun 10, 2023·edited Jun 10, 2023Liked by Jessica Hockett
For every person that tested for SARS-CoV-2, did they test them for the flu? Which types? There are anecdotes(when do enough of these become data?) where people who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 received no further screening for Influenza at all. Some of theses were officially declared "COVID presumptive positive." So we have a couple scenarios I see; 1) they didn't test them, if you don't test for it you won't find it. 2) like H1N1(pdm09) was it possible there were subtypes or Flu types that were tested for, that weren't present, while another that was infecting the patient went undetected in PCR or whatever screening used? Interesting stuff!
We need to have s round table and compare notes. I 2014, FDA and CDC started reporting "Influenza Disease" aka "P&I" (Pneumonia and Influenza) instead of the pre-2014 "Influenza" (lab-verified influenza). The media dutifully report "Influenza Disease" as "The Flu" leading to 10x more deaths attributed to Influenza. The evidence is found in my articles at jameslyonsweiler.com ... "Influenz disease" included flu, RSV, bacterial pneumonia, fungal infections, and coronavirus respiratory illness w/o molecular test evidence either way. Along comes "COVID-19" w False-Positive prone pcr tests, and therein the systematic diagnostic substitution is largely explained. Influenza disappeared because the default diagnosis for resp illness even with NEGATIVE covid19 test results became COVID19. https://jameslyonsweiler.com/2020/09/11/censored-is-cdc-borrowing-pneumonia-deaths-from-flu%E2%80%8B-for-from-covid-19/ I have a major report on the biased diagnosis on ipaknowledge.org
-- On the role of Influenza-B-Yamagata in the period circa 2018 to 2023 --
The near-"disappearance" of one specific type of Influenza (B-Yamagata) in testing predates the Corona-Panic of 2020 by some time, and a few are wondering what clues might be embedded in the disappearance to the bigger "disappearance of Influenza" question, and maybe some keys to the whole unnecessary catastrophe that was Corona-Panic of the early 2020s.
Influenza-B-Yamagata traditionally had a late-season peak. Then in early 2019, it did not have anywhere near its usual number of positives, and again the same in early 2020,. These two absences of B-Yamagata in their expected seasonal appearances were before the Corona-Panic's many social disruptions, the "interventions," the travel-restrictions and capacity-restrictions, all the various medical-system disruptions resulting from the Panic, and it even predates the supposed "Covid19" viral interference phenomenon, at least along the orthodox timeline of "the spread."
What explains the major fall in Influenza-B-Yamagata? There seem to be three possible explanations: (1.) The testing authorities stopped testing, en masse, for B-Yamagata, arbitrarily, sometime in mid or late 2018. Why they would do this is not easy to understand, and whether this happened should be able to be confirmed or disconfirmed; (2.) Influenza-B-Yamagata was blocked in (by) early 2019 and again in early 2020 (before the Panic) because of viral-interference by the spread of coronaviruses; coronaviruses were seldom tested for at the time; (3.) Some other virus blocked B-Yamagata, the other interfering-virus not related to any coronaviruses.
If (2.) is correct, then the general Virus-Panic-of-2020 narrative gets an interesting jolt.
I believe that your current theory is the relatively radical position that "there never was any 'pandemic'." The B-Yamagata piece of the puzzle may fit the no-pandemic-in-2020 theory, in that there were "normal virus things" going on in 2018 and 2019 and into 2020, all before anyone began to rally 'round the banners of the Panic. Coronas were seeded worldwide, largely blocking B-Yamagata after two or so seasons of doing its work; and then, when the Panic demanded a hunt for "the coronavirus," the Panic-loyal authorities could get positives, with their highly imprecise tests, as they wanted. The Panic-Monster was steadily fed. But the Panic even on its most technically-firm-seeming basis, was just totally wrong and picking up the remnants of earlier seeding events.
I mention Jessica's article in my current article, which presents some of the evidence of widespread ILI before official Covid was supposed to be in America.
CDC and state health agency data prove that cases of “influenza-like-illness (ILI) were widespread and severe across almost the entire U.S. in the months before “official” Covid. If nothing else, the evidence is overwhelming that more Americans became “sick” and experienced Covid-like symptoms than in the 10 previous flu seasons. Is it possible some large percentage of these sick people actually had Covid? I say yes.
If I’m right and the experts somehow completely missed the copious evidence of “early spread,” the implications are seismic. For example, it seems likely that iatrogenic deaths - and not this virus - explains the vast majority of “Covid deaths” that started happening in April 2020.
For me the answer to this lies in the Australian flu surveillance data, where PCR testing was being performed up to 44,000 tests a week and showed near-zero influenza A or B. Australia is one of the few countries that routinely tests for flu and had very little COVID in 2020.
There are only two possible explanations.
(1) There was a concerted effort to replace the PCR primers for influenza tests, which likely come only from two or three labs (e.g. Roche, Aptima) such that they no longer reported flu.
(2) Flu disappeared from Australia for two years. The disappearance happened on the 13th March 2020 when the border was closed to China.
I have to favour (2) because the ILI deaths went down in 2020.
"The flu" was simply rebranded and repurposed to produce a more frightening viral event in order to sell a product and jump start the Biosecurity program.
They told everyone straight to their face what they were going to do and they did it. And yes it was and is a conspiracy in the legally binding sense of the term.
On Oct. 28-29, 2019 The Milken Institute hosted “The Future of Health Summit”, where a panel of “health experts” gathered to discuss the “scientific and technological prospects of an effective universal influenza vaccine.”
The focal point of this panel discussion was, “the need for more funding for research, better collaboration between the private and government sectors, advances in technology in flu research and the goal of a universal flu vaccine.”
Two overall themes emerged from this meeting. The first idea highlighted the desire for a new way of producing vaccines. Anthony Fauci lamented that bringing in a new type of vaccine, like an mRNA vaccine, would take at least a decade “if everything goes perfectly.”
Rick Bright suggested the problem of long-term development could be sidestepped if, “there were an urgent call for an entity of excitement that is completely disruptive and is not beholden to bureaucratic strings and processes.”
The second issue featured the “need” for something new and more frightening to emerge as the flu no longer created enough fear in the population at large to warrant such a “universal vaccine.”
In that meeting Rick Bright stated, “But it is not too crazy to think that an outbreak of a novel avian virus could occur in China somewhere. We could get the RNA sequence from that to a number of regional centers if not local, if not even in your home at some point, and print those vaccines on a patch of self-administer.”
WHERE DID THE FLU GO?
...
The historical trend of the ‘flu’ tapering ceased in Week 10 (March 7th, 2020) as the ‘flu positive’ numbers dropped off a cliff.
Week 10 (21.5%) to Week 11 (15.3%) saw a precipitous fall of 6.2%. Week 11 (15.3%) to Week 12 (6.9%) ‘flu positives’ dropped an astonishing 8.4% in a single week.
By the time we reach Week 13 of 2020 (Table 8) ‘flu positives’ dropped to 2.1%. By Week 14 the ‘flu’ becomes virtually non-existent at a 0.8% rate of positivity.
While fewer tests (22,324) were conducted in Week 14 of 2020 compared to earlier weeks, they still represent the 2nd highest overall Week 14 tests in all CDC records. Yet, only 0.8% ‘flu positives’ were registered for Week 14 compared to the preceding 7 year average of 12.5% for that same week.
Quite simply there was no historical analog for this event. For all practical (and statistical) purposes the flu no longer existed.
Anyone who works with data knows such sudden jolts are alarm bells. In the real world, this usually indicates some problem with data-gathering and/or accounting methodologies as nature’s data always hugs its bell curves.
Given the bizarre circumstances of this unparalleled statistical outlier, multiple questions demand an answer.
How did flu rates go from all-time highs in Weeks 5, 6, and 7 of 2020 to all-time lows in Weeks 13 and Weeks 14 of the same year?
As a pediatrician on the front lines, viral interference is clearly the culprit: Covid outcompeted the flu and rsv. I see personally see how quickly we shift from one virus to another in a matter of weeks prior to Covid. The main evidence for this is that it fell off prior to social distancing, and once it became endemic, flu and rsv reappeared. In my small clinic, it fell off before any masking or social distancing It’s hubris and dangerous to think human actions can thwart a virus. It will encourage people in the future to try and avoid something they have no control over. Viral interference is fascinating and should be studied in more detail.
Those interested in articles that present evidence of "early spread" might be interested in this piece. In this article, I do a thought exercise and ask why no public health officials or President Trump Science Advisors were pushing for more "archived" blood to be tested for antibodies ... before the lockdowns. Also, why weren't the two tranches of Red Cross blood that were belatedly tested not tested much sooner?
If future historians come close to telling the true, human story of Covid, it will be in large part because of the heroic work of an anonymous writer known as “Transcriber B” on Substack. My Q & A with this unsung hero explains why she’s doing what she’s doing and identifies some of the most heart-wrenching transcripts she’s preserved for posterity.
Changing the name for a normal human process to COVID actually doesn’t interrupt the fact that “flu” was still happening all over the place. It is a normal process of our bodies going through detoxification.
For decades, many countries have invested in building up their systems to detect and respond to influenza. Because COVID-19 is also a respiratory pathogen, those systems can, and should, and are being adapted for COVID-19.
Jessica, thank you for again focussing on one of the great nonsensical and non-investigated puzzlers of our Covid era: How in the heck did the flu - in a matter of four weeks - simply disappear?
I think my intuition like yours - grounded in mega skepticism of “official" explanations - tells skeptics that manipulation of the flu tests (and Covid PCR tests) will lead us to the ultimate answers.
He who controls the tests controls the virus narratives … and ends up controlling the world population.
I not only think the PCR tests were manipulated to create a faux pandemic, the Covid antibody tests also haven’t received nearly enough scrutiny.
In short, I think the “authorized” Covid antibody tests (especially in the early months of the pandemic) were undercounting real Covid prevalence. Conversely, the so-called “junk” tests that were not “authorized” were probably giving us a much more accurate picture of how many people had been previously infected by the novel coronavirus.
My next big article will try to show/prove that ILI WAS much-greater in the U.S. in the winter and fall of 2019-2020 than the previous 10 “flu seasons.” Millions of “extra” Americans (beyond the 10-year-norm) were coming down with ILI symptoms and getting more flu tests.
And then, suddenly - after the lockdowns designed to prevent virus spread - these “positive influenza” results literally vanish. Based on my research, I think real Covid peaked in late December 2019, January and February 2020. The virus -as evidenced by the number of people going to the doctor with ILI symptoms - had already begun to fade out (on its own) by March 15, 2020.
I think any person who worked at a doc-in-the-box, emergency room or doctors' office who is honest would confirm this. I actually have quotes and emails from doctors and doctors'-office employees saying this. Public health agencies at the state level, local level and federal level must also know this and have covered this up IMO.
Anyway, thanks for your important contributions, which have not ignored this nonsensical puzzler. This thread of investigation MIGHT help us expose the entire fraud.
Something to consider about the interference question in the U.S. is that in most of the country in 2020, coronavirus cases didn't get recorded at high levels until that summer or fall. In those states, how could coronavirus have been stifling the influenza viruses? And what about the states, like the Northwest and upper New England, that never recorded a large surge of covid deaths?
As a somewhat random sample, I just went to Utah's influenza surveillance page at https://epi.health.utah.gov/influenza-reports/ The seasonal summaries end with 2018-2019. It's possible the post-2019 summaries are elsewhere, but it is curious. Also, this 1/31/2020 article in the Deseret News is interesting, on the flu vs. covid front:
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2020/1/31/21115837/influenza-flu-coronavirus-greatest-threat-illness-kids-this-year
The reporter wrote: "Influenza, to date, remains more infectious and more deadly than the novel coronavirus strains that popped up recently in China, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
For every person that tested for SARS-CoV-2, did they test them for the flu? Which types? There are anecdotes(when do enough of these become data?) where people who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 received no further screening for Influenza at all. Some of theses were officially declared "COVID presumptive positive." So we have a couple scenarios I see; 1) they didn't test them, if you don't test for it you won't find it. 2) like H1N1(pdm09) was it possible there were subtypes or Flu types that were tested for, that weren't present, while another that was infecting the patient went undetected in PCR or whatever screening used? Interesting stuff!
We need to have s round table and compare notes. I 2014, FDA and CDC started reporting "Influenza Disease" aka "P&I" (Pneumonia and Influenza) instead of the pre-2014 "Influenza" (lab-verified influenza). The media dutifully report "Influenza Disease" as "The Flu" leading to 10x more deaths attributed to Influenza. The evidence is found in my articles at jameslyonsweiler.com ... "Influenz disease" included flu, RSV, bacterial pneumonia, fungal infections, and coronavirus respiratory illness w/o molecular test evidence either way. Along comes "COVID-19" w False-Positive prone pcr tests, and therein the systematic diagnostic substitution is largely explained. Influenza disappeared because the default diagnosis for resp illness even with NEGATIVE covid19 test results became COVID19. https://jameslyonsweiler.com/2020/09/11/censored-is-cdc-borrowing-pneumonia-deaths-from-flu%E2%80%8B-for-from-covid-19/ I have a major report on the biased diagnosis on ipaknowledge.org
-- On the role of Influenza-B-Yamagata in the period circa 2018 to 2023 --
The near-"disappearance" of one specific type of Influenza (B-Yamagata) in testing predates the Corona-Panic of 2020 by some time, and a few are wondering what clues might be embedded in the disappearance to the bigger "disappearance of Influenza" question, and maybe some keys to the whole unnecessary catastrophe that was Corona-Panic of the early 2020s.
Influenza-B-Yamagata traditionally had a late-season peak. Then in early 2019, it did not have anywhere near its usual number of positives, and again the same in early 2020,. These two absences of B-Yamagata in their expected seasonal appearances were before the Corona-Panic's many social disruptions, the "interventions," the travel-restrictions and capacity-restrictions, all the various medical-system disruptions resulting from the Panic, and it even predates the supposed "Covid19" viral interference phenomenon, at least along the orthodox timeline of "the spread."
What explains the major fall in Influenza-B-Yamagata? There seem to be three possible explanations: (1.) The testing authorities stopped testing, en masse, for B-Yamagata, arbitrarily, sometime in mid or late 2018. Why they would do this is not easy to understand, and whether this happened should be able to be confirmed or disconfirmed; (2.) Influenza-B-Yamagata was blocked in (by) early 2019 and again in early 2020 (before the Panic) because of viral-interference by the spread of coronaviruses; coronaviruses were seldom tested for at the time; (3.) Some other virus blocked B-Yamagata, the other interfering-virus not related to any coronaviruses.
If (2.) is correct, then the general Virus-Panic-of-2020 narrative gets an interesting jolt.
I believe that your current theory is the relatively radical position that "there never was any 'pandemic'." The B-Yamagata piece of the puzzle may fit the no-pandemic-in-2020 theory, in that there were "normal virus things" going on in 2018 and 2019 and into 2020, all before anyone began to rally 'round the banners of the Panic. Coronas were seeded worldwide, largely blocking B-Yamagata after two or so seasons of doing its work; and then, when the Panic demanded a hunt for "the coronavirus," the Panic-loyal authorities could get positives, with their highly imprecise tests, as they wanted. The Panic-Monster was steadily fed. But the Panic even on its most technically-firm-seeming basis, was just totally wrong and picking up the remnants of earlier seeding events.
I mention Jessica's article in my current article, which presents some of the evidence of widespread ILI before official Covid was supposed to be in America.
CDC and state health agency data prove that cases of “influenza-like-illness (ILI) were widespread and severe across almost the entire U.S. in the months before “official” Covid. If nothing else, the evidence is overwhelming that more Americans became “sick” and experienced Covid-like symptoms than in the 10 previous flu seasons. Is it possible some large percentage of these sick people actually had Covid? I say yes.
If I’m right and the experts somehow completely missed the copious evidence of “early spread,” the implications are seismic. For example, it seems likely that iatrogenic deaths - and not this virus - explains the vast majority of “Covid deaths” that started happening in April 2020.
https://billricejr.substack.com/p/influenza-like-illness-probably-tells?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
For me the answer to this lies in the Australian flu surveillance data, where PCR testing was being performed up to 44,000 tests a week and showed near-zero influenza A or B. Australia is one of the few countries that routinely tests for flu and had very little COVID in 2020.
There are only two possible explanations.
(1) There was a concerted effort to replace the PCR primers for influenza tests, which likely come only from two or three labs (e.g. Roche, Aptima) such that they no longer reported flu.
(2) Flu disappeared from Australia for two years. The disappearance happened on the 13th March 2020 when the border was closed to China.
I have to favour (2) because the ILI deaths went down in 2020.
The flu surveillance data is here https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/australian-influenza-surveillance-reports-2021?language=en
"The flu" was simply rebranded and repurposed to produce a more frightening viral event in order to sell a product and jump start the Biosecurity program.
They told everyone straight to their face what they were going to do and they did it. And yes it was and is a conspiracy in the legally binding sense of the term.
On Oct. 28-29, 2019 The Milken Institute hosted “The Future of Health Summit”, where a panel of “health experts” gathered to discuss the “scientific and technological prospects of an effective universal influenza vaccine.”
The focal point of this panel discussion was, “the need for more funding for research, better collaboration between the private and government sectors, advances in technology in flu research and the goal of a universal flu vaccine.”
Two overall themes emerged from this meeting. The first idea highlighted the desire for a new way of producing vaccines. Anthony Fauci lamented that bringing in a new type of vaccine, like an mRNA vaccine, would take at least a decade “if everything goes perfectly.”
Rick Bright suggested the problem of long-term development could be sidestepped if, “there were an urgent call for an entity of excitement that is completely disruptive and is not beholden to bureaucratic strings and processes.”
The second issue featured the “need” for something new and more frightening to emerge as the flu no longer created enough fear in the population at large to warrant such a “universal vaccine.”
In that meeting Rick Bright stated, “But it is not too crazy to think that an outbreak of a novel avian virus could occur in China somewhere. We could get the RNA sequence from that to a number of regional centers if not local, if not even in your home at some point, and print those vaccines on a patch of self-administer.”
WHERE DID THE FLU GO?
...
The historical trend of the ‘flu’ tapering ceased in Week 10 (March 7th, 2020) as the ‘flu positive’ numbers dropped off a cliff.
Week 10 (21.5%) to Week 11 (15.3%) saw a precipitous fall of 6.2%. Week 11 (15.3%) to Week 12 (6.9%) ‘flu positives’ dropped an astonishing 8.4% in a single week.
By the time we reach Week 13 of 2020 (Table 8) ‘flu positives’ dropped to 2.1%. By Week 14 the ‘flu’ becomes virtually non-existent at a 0.8% rate of positivity.
While fewer tests (22,324) were conducted in Week 14 of 2020 compared to earlier weeks, they still represent the 2nd highest overall Week 14 tests in all CDC records. Yet, only 0.8% ‘flu positives’ were registered for Week 14 compared to the preceding 7 year average of 12.5% for that same week.
Quite simply there was no historical analog for this event. For all practical (and statistical) purposes the flu no longer existed.
Anyone who works with data knows such sudden jolts are alarm bells. In the real world, this usually indicates some problem with data-gathering and/or accounting methodologies as nature’s data always hugs its bell curves.
Given the bizarre circumstances of this unparalleled statistical outlier, multiple questions demand an answer.
How did flu rates go from all-time highs in Weeks 5, 6, and 7 of 2020 to all-time lows in Weeks 13 and Weeks 14 of the same year?
....
https://healthfreedomdefense.org/where-did-the-flu-go/
As a pediatrician on the front lines, viral interference is clearly the culprit: Covid outcompeted the flu and rsv. I see personally see how quickly we shift from one virus to another in a matter of weeks prior to Covid. The main evidence for this is that it fell off prior to social distancing, and once it became endemic, flu and rsv reappeared. In my small clinic, it fell off before any masking or social distancing It’s hubris and dangerous to think human actions can thwart a virus. It will encourage people in the future to try and avoid something they have no control over. Viral interference is fascinating and should be studied in more detail.
.
So What's The Count ?
How Many Died From The Sniffles ?
And How Many Died
Because They Were Afraid Of The Sniffles ?
.
Those interested in articles that present evidence of "early spread" might be interested in this piece. In this article, I do a thought exercise and ask why no public health officials or President Trump Science Advisors were pushing for more "archived" blood to be tested for antibodies ... before the lockdowns. Also, why weren't the two tranches of Red Cross blood that were belatedly tested not tested much sooner?
https://billricejr.substack.com/p/re-early-spread-what-did-president?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
If future historians come close to telling the true, human story of Covid, it will be in large part because of the heroic work of an anonymous writer known as “Transcriber B” on Substack. My Q & A with this unsung hero explains why she’s doing what she’s doing and identifies some of the most heart-wrenching transcripts she’s preserved for posterity.
https://billricejr.substack.com/p/q-and-a-with-transcriber-b
Changing the name for a normal human process to COVID actually doesn’t interrupt the fact that “flu” was still happening all over the place. It is a normal process of our bodies going through detoxification.
Can you point to the reference you are using from which we can see the positives and negatives from the 44000 please? Thanks.
For decades, many countries have invested in building up their systems to detect and respond to influenza. Because COVID-19 is also a respiratory pathogen, those systems can, and should, and are being adapted for COVID-19.
https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---3-march-2020
Jessica, thank you for again focussing on one of the great nonsensical and non-investigated puzzlers of our Covid era: How in the heck did the flu - in a matter of four weeks - simply disappear?
I think my intuition like yours - grounded in mega skepticism of “official" explanations - tells skeptics that manipulation of the flu tests (and Covid PCR tests) will lead us to the ultimate answers.
He who controls the tests controls the virus narratives … and ends up controlling the world population.
I not only think the PCR tests were manipulated to create a faux pandemic, the Covid antibody tests also haven’t received nearly enough scrutiny.
In short, I think the “authorized” Covid antibody tests (especially in the early months of the pandemic) were undercounting real Covid prevalence. Conversely, the so-called “junk” tests that were not “authorized” were probably giving us a much more accurate picture of how many people had been previously infected by the novel coronavirus.
My next big article will try to show/prove that ILI WAS much-greater in the U.S. in the winter and fall of 2019-2020 than the previous 10 “flu seasons.” Millions of “extra” Americans (beyond the 10-year-norm) were coming down with ILI symptoms and getting more flu tests.
And then, suddenly - after the lockdowns designed to prevent virus spread - these “positive influenza” results literally vanish. Based on my research, I think real Covid peaked in late December 2019, January and February 2020. The virus -as evidenced by the number of people going to the doctor with ILI symptoms - had already begun to fade out (on its own) by March 15, 2020.
I think any person who worked at a doc-in-the-box, emergency room or doctors' office who is honest would confirm this. I actually have quotes and emails from doctors and doctors'-office employees saying this. Public health agencies at the state level, local level and federal level must also know this and have covered this up IMO.
Anyway, thanks for your important contributions, which have not ignored this nonsensical puzzler. This thread of investigation MIGHT help us expose the entire fraud.