I have seen conspiracy theories that claim Covid-19 is really influenza or the common cold, just given a special name so as to cook up a political takeover of all of humanity. The idea seems both farfetched and not-farfetched to me. The essay at the link puts some of those conspiracy theories out of their misery.
It does so without even mentioning them. Instead, the writer sets out to explain the disappearance, then reappearance, of the flu during the Covid-19 pandemic. The essay outlines “a well-known but poorly understood concept in virology called viral interference” and shows how it relates to various pandemic story lines around the world.
Interestingly, Covid-19 didn’t simply displace influenza, it also displaced other respiratory diseases, and each new SARS-COV-2 variant displaced the previous one. Nor is viral interference a simple process; complications arise from the different types of immune system response the human body is capable of, as well as from pre-pandemic coronavirus exposure levels and other factors, for example. Ultimately the essay provides a fascinating explanation of what it means to say that SARS-COV-2 has become endemic.
I should note that the author’s bio is something of a mystery. I find the essay veritable intuitively, a quality of works I seem to run across more and more often these days. If I am wrong to think so, I welcome correction.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
โ Unfortunately, almost all your analyses, including the nice graphs of how the SARS-CoV-2 variants appear and replace each other is pure hogwash. Apart of virtual data (NGS sequencing without cloning), there is no epidemiology accompanying such worthless data. Together with my wife, we did a lot of molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 and HIV-2. This was real science and not the New Science we see published every day.โ
NJP, the first comment on the long article seems to take the author to task.
But if you donโt know the authorโs credentials, nor do we know the commenterโs, it puts the essay in the category of โI saw it on the internetโ. In my opinion.
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RE: “it puts the essay in the category of ‘I saw it on the internet.'”
Yes it does, hence my note at the bottom of the post.
That the reader can’t appeal to authority in judging the essay strikes me as a feature, not a bug.
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“The idea seems both farfetched and not-farfetched to me.”
Hedging your bets, Mr. Roberts?
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No. Just open-minded.
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I have a hard time believing that based on your history. But if you say so.
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