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24 Nov, 5 tweets, 4 min read
1. Short flu 🧵.
Global flu surveillance data for Oct 25 to Nov 7 was issued today by @WHO. It shows a small uptick of flu activity globally, with 100 national labs reporting 3130 cases among +400K tests. Internationally influenza B viruses (B/Victoria) predominate.
2. That number of positive #flu tests is a positivity rate of 0.78%, which is still well below what we'd expect to see at this time of the year, when flu transmission in the Northern Hemisphere normally builds. This graph (mine) compares positivity rates in autumn 2019 & 2021.
3. #Flu isn't the only non-#Covid respiratory disease spreading. Some areas are seeing a lot of RSV activity & other influenza-like illnesses. The lowering of the guard on Covid precautions will allow these other viruses to resume transmission.
Gonna be an interesting winter.
4. @CDCgov issued a HAN today (Health Alert Network) warning health care providers that flu activity is picking up in the US & that they should test for #flu, offer flu vaccine to patients & prescribe flu antivirals when appropriate. emergency.cdc.gov/han/2021/han00…
5. @CDCgov told HCPs that most of the #flu being seen so far is H3N2 (a flu A virus) & it's mostly turning up in young adults, including college students. Most of the viruses are related to, but not a perfect match for the H3N2 virus included in this year's flu shot.

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More from @HelenBranswell

Helen Branswell Profile picture
24 Nov
1. "We must do better at sharing the fruits of science." @WHO Director @DrTedros at today's virtual press conference. It's important for all countries to have access to #Covid vaccines, but also rapid tests and therapies, Dr. Tedros said.
2. @DrTedros said no country or region is yet out of the woods when it comes to #Covid, pointing to the surge in cases in Europe where vaccination rates are reasonably high. He urged people to continue to take precautions against Covid, even if they are vaccinated.
3. @DrTedros points to next week's special session of the World Health Assembly — the WHO's governing body — to try to come up with a treaty or instrument designed to prevent or mitigate future pandemics. Tedros said he is heartened that there now appears to be a broad consensus.
Read 9 tweets
Helen Branswell Profile picture
19 Nov
1. #ACIP will begin meeting at noon ET on the expansion of the emergency use authorizations for Pfizer & Moderna #Covid19 boosters.
The agenda is here: cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/…
The meeting can be listened to here: video.ibm.com/channel/VWBXKB…
I will be live blogging in this thread.
2. #ACIP is beginning. Roll call was conducted in an unusual fashion so I'm not sure I've got this right, but I think 2 voting members of the committee are not present (meeting was called at the last minute). So 13 members will be voting.
3. #ACIP is getting a bit of data on #Covid vax uptake in kids aged 5-11. So far nearly 2M kids have been vaccinated.
Matt Daley, chair of ACIP's Covid vax work group, says he's been talking to kids about vaccination. They're excited "not about the poke, but about the promise."
Read 33 tweets
Helen Branswell Profile picture
11 Nov
1. Europe is seeing an upswing in cases of an infection that has been linked to a polio-like phenomenon called #AFM — acute flaccid myelitis — according to a report today in @Eurosurveillanc. Enterovirus D68 is thought to trigger AFM in some kids. eurosurveillance.org/content/10.280…
2. From 2014 on, the US & Europe experienced cases of #AFM that left dozens of children dealing with some lingering paralysis after they had cold-like symptoms. AFM cases peaked every 2 years; but in socially-distance 2020, there was no surge. statnews.com/2021/02/04/doc…
3. Authorities in the US have been watching for #AFM this fall, figuring the loosening of Covid precautions & the return to in-person schooling could result in a spike in cases. So far this year that hasn't happened. Fewer cases than in 2020, even. cdc.gov/acute-flaccid-…
Read 4 tweets
Helen Branswell Profile picture
5 Nov
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. Image
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. Image
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. Image
Read 10 tweets
Helen Branswell Profile picture
2 Nov
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.
Read 52 tweets
Helen Branswell Profile picture
26 Oct
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.
3. It also is timed to the launch of the @ECDC_EU's #flu awareness campaign. So there's that. ecdc.europa.eu/en/news-events…
Read 7 tweets

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