Reduced flu activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the pandemic extent of SARS-CoV-2 infection was recognized in mid-February 2020, indicators of influenza activity began to decline worldwide. The significant reduction in influenza activity may have implications in terms of forecasting the most appropriate strains towards which to direct the 2021/2022 vaccination campaign, its possible benefits against the inevitable costs, not only economic, but also organizational. The latter deserve special attention by virtue of the realistic need for a new mass vaccination for Covid19 in autumn 2021. In order to have a better perception of the fluctuation of influenza activity at the level of General Practice, we verified the cases of influenza diagnosed after hospitalisation for pneumonia and flu-like illness for a period of 5 years in a population belonging to a large GP Surgery in Merseyside, UK.