1. Fridays are #flu update days from @CDCgov. So here goes.
CDC says flu activity remains low but the agency reports a tiny uptick in flu activity in the week ending Oct. 30.
2. To be honest, I don't actually see that. In the week ending Oct. 30, 52 people tested positive for #flu out of nearly 33,000 people tested. There's not a ton of sunlight between the test positivity rates of the first 4 weeks of the 2021-22 flu season.
3. Last week 282 people were admitted to hospital across the country because of #flu infections. It was 288 the week before. This number has been pretty static since late May.
4. Long term care facilities can be harbingers of the start of #flu activity. But so far, not much activity there. Only 27 (0.2%) of 14,216 reporting care facilities had at least one #influenza positive test among their residents.
5. So no big signs yet that #flu is taking off here. But it's important to remember: 1) if this were a pre-Covid year, it would still be considered early for flu & 2) while it's impossible to know when #flu will return, do not bet on it not returning. cdc.gov/flu/weekly/wee…
6. Last thing: @CDCgov reported 3 cases of people infected with swine #flu (aka variant) viruses in this issue of FluView. These infections all happened in the 2020-21 flu season; all involved people who had been in proximity to pigs. No evidence of person-2-person spread.
7. I'm going to add a bit because I saw some concerning data on #flu vaccine uptake so far for 2021-22.
Flu vaccine uptake is down. Not surprising, given last year's non-appearance of flu. But people should not assume this winter will mirror last winter. cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview…
8. #Flu vaccine uptake among pregnant people is down from where it was last year at this time. This is a mistake. Pregnant people should be vaccinated against flu. They are at higher risk of severe illness if they contract influenza.
9. #Flu vaccination among kids is down 8 percentage points compared to last year, with just under 25% vaccinated by Oct 23.
Every year before the pandemic 150-200 kids died from flu. That will resume when flu returns & the flu hiatus will leave young kids very susceptible.
10. This fact from the @CDCgov's update on #flu shot uptake absolutely flummoxes me. There are adults who are refusing #Covid vaccines but getting flu shots. Who are these people? Where do they get their health information from?
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1. Good day. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, #ACIP, is meeting today to review and vote on whether to recommend Pfizer's #Covid vaccine for children 5-11 yo.
The meeting is starting. It's expected to wrap about 5 pm ET today.
I'll be live tweeting.
2. The meeting opens with remarks from @CDCDirector, who called today a momentous day.
She acknowledges #Covid's risk to children is lower than adults, but it is not nil. 745 children under 18 have died; 94 were in the 5-11 age group.
School & childhood has been vastly changed.
3. @CDCDirector tells #ACIP that pediatric vaccination can help put kids' lives back on a normal track.
1. A short #flu interlude: @ECDC_EU released a statement today on flu in Europe warning of a potentially severe season looming for the elderly. It doesn't appear to be based on a ton, though flu activity seems to be higher than normal fo this time of year in Croatia.
2. @ECDC_EU's claim this might be a severe season for the elderly is based on the fact that most of the flu seen in the EU is H3N2, which is hard on seniors. This could be a bad year; no doubt about it. But this feels like not a ton of data on which to predict what's to come.
1. @US_FDA's Peter Marks opens the meeting acknowledging how heated the public debate on authorizing this vaccine for young children is. #VRBPAC members were hit with an organized campaign from anti-vaxers over the weekend. @DrPaulOffit told me he was getting an email a minute.
2. Acting #VRBPAC chair Arnold Monto, who is generally quick to cut off speakers when he wants to move the agenda onward, says lots of time has been allotted for today's meeting.
3. #VRBPAC is taking a short lunch break, till 1 pm ET. Then there's a 60 minute public comment period. Speakers are drawn by lottery, but I'd be very surprised if this isn't a very heated hour of comment.
1. The #ACIP meeting on #Covid boosters is about to begin. Day long meeting. It will be interesting to see if they try to put some guard rails up around a pick-your-own-adventure booster process that @US_FDA seems to have green lit.
I will try to live tweet, but no promises.
3. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, who overruled #ACIP the last time the committee met on #Covid vaccines, is addressing the committee now. No mention of having overruled ACIP.
1. Gonna sneak in a little #flu info here. New global data from @WHO covering the period to the end of Sept. shows flu activity remains very low around the world. Where flu is detected, influenza B (Victoria) viruses seem to be the dominant viruses spreading.
2. Of nearly 250,000 respiratory specimens tested for flu around the world in the 2 weeks ending Sept. 26, only 2,022 were positive. That's a 0.8% positivity rate. #Flu will return & when it does, we could pay dearly for its hiatus. But not clear when the return will occur.
3. I'll add more to this thread after 11 a.m., when @CDC posts its weekly #flu report, FluView.
Here's a link to the @WHO flu report. who.int/teams/global-i…
1. #Ebola news: The new outbreak near Beni in the northeastern part of DRC is a flare up of the 2018-2020 North Kivu outbreak, genetic sequencing by Congo's @inrb_kinshasa has confirmed, @SoceFallBirima told me. This outbreak is not a new spillover from nature.
Thread.
2. The first confirmed case in this new outbreak was a 3 yo boy who died on Oct. 6. Comparison of the genetic sequence of virus from this boy showed it most closely compared to viruses sequenced in July 2019.
This is the 2nd flare up in North Kivu from the 2018-20 outbreak.
3. The 1st flare up in North Kivu happened earlier this year. This new flare up is not linked to the Feb. cluster of cases, comparison of the sequences shows. @SoceFallBirima says an investigation is underway to figure out how this flare up ignited & if there are more cases.