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(CNN) -
Flu cases may have almost disappeared during covid-19.
However, it was not the only stationary virus affected by the measures of distancing and hygiene related to the pandemic.
Researchers in Wisconsin reported Monday that they found a variety of respiratory infections that subsided during the 2020-2021 flu season.
That time coincided with the covid-19 pandemic.
Not only that, but so did the number of antibiotic prescriptions, indicating that having rapid tests on hand to diagnose which germ is causing an infection can cut down on unnecessary drug prescriptions.
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The data was revealed by Dr. Alexander Lepak with his colleagues from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine for the university's academic health system.
That center receives up to 7 million patient visits a year.
“Outpatient antibiotic prescription data was collected for all University of Wisconsin outpatient health clinics, types of visits (eg, in-person, telemedicine, and telephone), and ages.
We calculate the number of monthly antibiotic prescriptions, "they wrote in their report, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association's JAMA Internal Medicine.
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"Winter seasonal viruses (influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and seasonal coronavirus) currently average 12 per month compared to 4,800 per month in previous seasons," they wrote.
"Other respiratory virus detections also decreased from 560 per month before the pandemic to 228 per month during the pandemic," they added.
Antibiotic prescriptions fell 79%, they reported.
“The data suggests that covid-19 transmission mitigation strategies can help curb respiratory viral illnesses beyond SARS-CoV-2.
Indirectly, they would also reduce the prescription of antibiotics, "they wrote.
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