Why one common flu virus may have vanished during the COVID years
One of the four seasonal flu types, called influenza B/Yamagata, has not been seen anywhere since 2020. A computer model suggests it disappeared simply because it spread less easily, leaving it fragile when the pandemic slashed close contact between people.
Why it matters
Every winter, flu makes millions of people sick. If one flu type has truly died out, future vaccines might no longer need to protect against it, which could simplify and cheapen flu shots. But the study also warns this virus could still return, for example through a laboratory accident, so scientists want to stay watchful. This is a computer model of how viruses spread, not a lab experiment, so its conclusions are informed guesses, not proof.
Who's behind it: M. A. Gutierrez and P. A. Rohani, University of Georgia.
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