STRICT compliance with the Covid-19 standard operating procedure and hygiene factors have brought down the number of influenza cases this year by 70%, said the Health Ministry.

Around this time last year, Malaysia was grappling with a spike in influenza cases, prior to the onset of Covid-19 a couple of months later.

However, head head of the surveillance sector, disease control division Dr Wan Noriani Wan Mohamed said there was no trend of an increase in influenza cases this year.

“In fact, influenza cases recorded throughout 2020 showed a 70% decrease, following compliance with SOP and good hygiene practices,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

“It is evident that the measures taken to contain the spread of Covid-19 have given a positive impact in containing the spread of other infectious diseases, including influenza.”

This trend is also evident in other parts of the world, she said.

While influenza occurs all year long, there is usually a spike between July and September, or during year-end – as it did in December 2019, which led to a spike in demand for vaccines.

There were 118 outbreaks of influenza A in the first two weeks of 2020, but the number of cases dropped.

Meanwhile, the majority of the cases reported last year were schoolchildren.

In Selangor, more than 800 schoolchildren were infected, while two schools in Perak and Sabah were closed temporarily due to flu outbreaks, causing parents to worry.

Symptoms of influenza include sudden onset of fever, cough (usually dry), headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and a runny nose.

While influenza and Covid-19 are contagious respiratory illnesses, they are caused by different viruses.

According to the World Health Organisation, flu has a shorter median incubation period and a shorter serial interval than the Covid-19 virus. – December 31, 2020.