StillKpaidy t1_j2c8nwi wrote on December 31, 2022 at 4:18 AM

There was a huge drop in influenza infections, and I suspect RSV as well given the recent resurgence now that most people have largely gone back to normal and kids are back in the classroom. Now, separating the effects of social distancing versus masks can be difficult, but since both are spread by respiratory droplets I'd imagine masks were a large part of it.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/past-seasons.html

Note in the link above that for 2020-2021 they can't even give you an estimate because numbers were so low.

UltraLowDef t1_j2cmirc wrote on December 31, 2022 at 6:31 AM

but at least with RSV, there has been a recent surge in many areas, speculated because kids are lacking normal immunities to things from lack of regular exposure.

oblivious_fireball t1_j2cudw0 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 8:06 AM

in my state, illnesses that were generally labelled as the common cold also dropped off massively along with the flu and other contagious respiratory illnesses. which have since promptly rebounded with the end of health protocols.