Thread by @linseymarr

I wrote about applying what we've learned from Covid-19 to the flu. nytimes.com/2021/10/19/opi… Cleaner air (ventilation & filtration) is a "powerful tool for reducing the risk of Covid-19 transmission, & it should be embraced more thoroughly during this pandemic and to reduce flu"/1

We inadvertently squashed the flu last year, probably thanks to our interventions against Covid-19 combined with our pre-existing immunity to flu. @Lakdawala_Lab showed that this factor is a barrier to airborne transmission. journals.plos.org/plospathogens/… /2

@Lakdawala_Lab "I hope that Covid-19 has catalyzed a shift in thinking about the air we breathe. You wouldn’t drink a glass of water full of pathogens, chemicals and dirt. Why should we put up with breathing contaminated air?" /3

@Lakdawala_Lab "Around the turn of the 20th century, the proliferation and modernization of water and sewage treatment systems helped make common waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera a rarity in the United States and Europe." /4

"The results of investments in water infrastructure are considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. Making air quality healthier as a way to cut down on disease should be a public health focus for this century." /5

There's a great article in The Atlantic about this topic, too. theatlantic.com/health/archive… (Looks like I ripped it off, but I was asked to write this piece--and wrote a draft--before that article came out.) /6

Thanks to @acsifferlin and team for sharp editing! /7