Influenza-Cold case

2020 has been a year without a flu season in the southern hemisphere

經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人9月刊

EVERY WINTER, from May to October, tens of thousands of Australians and New Zealanders are asked how they feel. More precisely, they are asked by their governments in weekly surveys if they have a cough or a fever. Although 2020 has been a difficult year in many ways for?Aussies and Kiwis, it has not necessarily been bad for their physical health. This winter only around 0.4% of people in the two countries said they were suffering from flu-like symptoms, down by four-fifths compared with last year. Other countries in the southern hemisphere have reported similar slowdowns in the spread of influenza.

Aussie ?n. ?/??zi/ ?( Oz·zie ) 澳大利亞人? ? ? ?Kiwi?新西蘭人

The cause for this steep decline in infections is clear. Governments all around the world have enacted?costly lockdowns to fight the novel coronavirus. In doing so, not only have countries in the southern hemisphere slowed the spread of covid-19, but they also appear inadvertently?to have stopped the proliferation of another deadly disease: the flu.

enact ?v. /??n?kt/ ?

1.?( law 律 ) to pass a law 通過（法律）?legislation enacted by parliament 由議會(huì)通過的法律

2.扮演；擔(dān)任…角色；演出??scenes from history enacted by local residents 由當(dāng)?shù)鼐用駞⒓友莩龅臍v史場(chǎng)面

3.be enacted [ VN ] ( formal ) to take place 發(fā)生；進(jìn)行；舉行

inadvertently ?adv. /??n?d?v??t?ntli/ by accident; without intending to 無意地；不經(jīng)意地

proliferation ?n. /pr??l?f??re??n/ ??激增；涌現(xiàn)；增殖；大量的事物??? attempts to prevent cancer cell proliferation 防止癌細(xì)胞擴(kuò)散的努力

Since 1952 the World Health Organisation (WHO) has tracked influenza in member countries, relying on local partner laboratories to report both the number and types of viruses they detect. In the first two weeks of August, the WHO processed nearly 200,000 influenza tests, and found just 46 were positive. In a typical year, the number would be closer to 3,500.

One might worry that because health-care systems are strained, the declines in reported flu cases reflect reduced testing capacity, rather than a genuine reduction in infections. Fortunately, this is not so. WHO data are readily available in six countries in the southern hemisphere: Australia, Argentina, South Africa, Paraguay,?New Zealand and Chile. There the total number of influenza tests has fallen by just 20%, while the share of tests that have come up positive has plummeted to record lows.

strain /stre?n/ ?n. 張力；拉緊；負(fù)擔(dān)；扭傷；血緣?vi. 拉緊；盡力?vt. 拉緊；濫用；濾去；竭力?n. （植物、動(dòng)物的）品種；種類

strain at the ?leash?( informal ) to want to do sth very much 急于；迫不及待??Like all youngsters, he's straining at the leash to leave home. 跟所有年輕人一樣，他也急于從家里出去。

strain every ?nerve/?sinew (to do sth)?：( formal ) to try as hard as you can to do sth 竭盡全力（做某事）

Paraguay??/?p?r?ɡwa?/ n. 巴拉圭（南美洲一國(guó)名）

plummet ?v. /?pl?m?t/ ?[ V ] to fall suddenly and quickly from a high level or position 暴跌；速降?? Share prices plummeted to an all-time low. 股票價(jià)格暴跌到歷史最低點(diǎn)。

Data from Australia tell a remarkable tale. From May to mid-August of 2015-19, an average of 86,000 Australians tested positive for the flu each year, and around 130 died of it. This winter the government has registered only 627 influenza infections and just a single death.

The reduction in flu cases helps explain at least one puzzle in covid-19 data: some countries have seen a smaller increase in overall mortality than their covid-19 deaths would suggest. For instance, Chile has recorded around 9,800 covid-19 deaths from June to August 25th, but an increase of only about 8,800 deaths overall compared with the same period in 2015-19. It is possible that Chile is undercounting how many of its residents have died. But the near elimination of the flu has helped too.

這段話的大意指的是：

流感的減少幫助解釋新冠肺炎的數(shù)據(jù)：一些國(guó)家的總死亡人數(shù)似乎并未增加多少，并沒有推測(cè)中由于新冠疫情導(dǎo)致的死亡人數(shù)劇增。例如，智利今年6月至8月25日一共記錄了9800名新冠疫情死亡人數(shù)，但是與2015-19年同時(shí)期相比，只多了8800名死亡人數(shù)。有可能智利未統(tǒng)計(jì)全面，但流感的幾乎減滅也幫助解釋了數(shù)據(jù)。（其實(shí)up覺得死了8800多人已經(jīng)夠多了，我老家小鎮(zhèn)人數(shù)不到5000人，差不多兩個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)消失了。）

Influenza cases may yet rise in the south both this year and next, since fewer people have developed immunities. Meanwhile, countries in the northern hemisphere should expect fewer flu cases since fewer will be imported from abroad, and most people are social distancing. Seasonal influenza kills an estimated 300,000-650,000 people annually. In a year filled with terrible news, a victory against the flu is a welcome respite.

welcome respite：喘息之機(jī)

respite n. /?respa?t/ ?

1.~ (from sth) a short break or escape from sth difficult or unpleasant 暫停；暫緩??The drug brought a brief respite from the pain. 藥物暫時(shí)緩解了疼痛。 ?She continued to work without respite. 她連續(xù)工作，沒有休息。

respite care (= temporary care arranged for old, mentally ill, etc. people so that the people who usually care for them can have a rest) USEAT break 暫緩性照料

2.a short delay allowed before sth difficult or unpleasant must be done 短暫的延緩；喘息??His creditors agreed to give him a temporary respite. 他的債權(quán)人同意給他一個(gè)喘息的機(jī)會(huì)