Stay at home. Technology will take care of everything else

Every year, when the number of flu cases grows, healthcare centers burst at the seams. Paradoxically, in order to get medical advice, patients infect other people in waiting rooms, on public transport and in workplaces. The coronavirus pandemic made us realize that we could do it all differently. So, stay at home to protect yourself, others and medical staff. Lighten the load on the healthcare system now and in the future.

Invisible mistakes It is the same every autumn and winter: crowds in outpatient clinics and waiting rooms, coughing and sneezing on people in offices and cinemas, on buses, at schools and concerts. It is a medical fact that in the case of seasonal flu, a patient statistically infects one person. Therefore, the growth in the number of cases

is not exponential (as it is for the coronavirus), but linear. According to data collected by the World Health Organization, every year about 1 billion people come down with the flu, 3–5 million cases are severe and approximately 290,000–650,000 people die. These numbers show us how little has changed in recent years to improve the prevention of contagious diseases, such as the flu.

We have vaccines, but a relatively small percentage of the population uses them. Eurostat data show that on average 43% of Europeans aged 65 or older are vaccinated against the flu. There are huge differences across countries. In the United Kingdom, it is over 70%, in Germany it is half that number and in Estonia it is just 3%. On the one hand, we can imagine what the mortality rate would look like without vaccines and on the other, alarming statistics do not serve as sufficient motivation, even for people in risk groups.

The coronavirus pandemic came as a shock and an unpleasant lesson in preventive healthcare for all of us. Not only for selected people in risk groups, but for every person – without exceptions. What contagious disease experts have been saying for a long time is finally reaching politicians and gaining social recognition. Science and medicine have turned out to be disciplines of strategic importance, not only from the point of view of health and life, but also social welfare and economic development. We did not listen to epidemiologists because they were talking about an abstract risk which could be seen and experienced first-hand. We got accustomed to the common cold and the flu, because they have always accompanied us. We used to regard visions of larger epidemics as far-fetched scenarios which might happen someday, but not in our lifetime. Many contagious diseases were eliminated thanks to vaccines, so the present generation does not know how many victims used to be claimed by measles or smallpox.

Responsibility serves as prevention We have also forgotten that from the point of view of health, everyone is responsible not only for themselves, but also for others. When we make nothing of the flu, take medications which minimize its symptoms and keep participating in social life (go to work, the cinema or school), we put other people at risk of being infected and we become the source of infection ourselves. It is not viruses that infect people, it is people who infect others with viruses. During the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, the most effective medicine has turned out to be limiting social contacts, keeping physical distance and washing your hands. These simple procedures were almost forgotten in today’s modern world that is under continuous development. In many countries, citizens have obeyed administration orders and suspended social contact for some time to flatten the infection curve and avoid overburdening the healthcare system within a short period of time. Today, it is easier thanks to new IT and communication solutions. It is also a great lesson for the future, a lesson in solidarity, maturity and awareness. Instead of infecting colleagues with the flu during business meetings, you can just as well organize a teleconference from your own home. It is feasible in the case of some jobs, but of course not all of them. Children can participate in online lessons, even when only one person is sick and other students attend classes in the normal way. In this case, it would be hard to say that “necessity is the mother of invention”. Inventions have been available for a long time, but it is the necessity that appeared out of nowhere.

You do not need to visit a doctor right after your nose starts running or as soon as you get a sore throat. When your health condition is stable, it is enough to consult a doctor using telemedical solutions. On the basis of your medical history, the doctor can initially determine your health condition at a distance and decide whether it is necessary for you to visit a doctor’s office. The doctor can also prescribe medications by sending you an electronic prescription. Patients have nothing to fear, doctors are knowledgeable enough to make an initial diagnosis based on a conversation with the patient. When we stay at home, we keep the virus in check. In this way, we do not infect other people, especially those who have a poorer prognosis because they are weaker or have existing conditions. This way we do not overburden the healthcare system, so the waiting time is shorter for those who really need help. The things that many people were not aware of in the past are becoming obvious now and should not be forgotten in the future. Digital health technologies are here to be used in a clever way. We can see that telemedicine is not a technology which exists for its own sake, but a part of preventive healthcare and a method of increasing the effectiveness of the healthcare system.

The message to “stay at home” should forever change the behavior of people who come down with the flu or the common cold. Stay at home, book an online doctor’s appointment and behave responsibly. This solidarity and joint responsibility can become new values in healthcare after the coronavirus pandemic. 

»An online medical consultation is not only a comfortable, but also a responsible way of using medical services.«