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Helen Branswell Profile picture
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3 Jan, 7 tweets, 5 min read
1. A short #flu 🧵
@CDCgov posted flu data for the week ending Dec. 25 today. Flu activity continues to increase, but remains at lower levels than in pre-pandemic years.
Most diagnosed flu infections are in 5-24 year olds. Flu activity is highest in the east & central US. Image
2. Virtually all #flu activity so far has been caused by the #influenza A virus H3N2. That's too bad as it is the most problematic of (human) flu A & B viruses. There's a mismatch this year this year in the H3 component of flu shots. (Week 51, left column, season to date, right.) Image
3. For the week ending Dec. 25 (week 51), 6.2% of tests run by clinical labs were positive for flu. I think the last time it would have been that high was the week ending March 21, 2020 (6.9%), when the very active 2019-20 flu season ran smack dab into Covid — and promptly ended. Image
4. #Flu seasons start & peak at different points, so it can be hard to compare a week in 1 flu season to the corresponding week in another. So here's a chart to show how a positivity rate of 6.2% corresponds to other years at this time. Image
5. In #flu seasons that start early, the positivity rate by week 51 can be above 20%. Last year's non-season doesn't even register here. The 2015-16 season was pretty atypical: mild flu season that only peaked in late March. Image
6. A thing to note: While it's possible this #flu season will be less active than pre-pandemic seasons, any flu illness is right now is very unwelcome. Health systems are strained to the max with #Covid. There aren't spare hospital beds; but flu hospitalizations are rising. Image
7. If you want to look at the data, FluView can be found here. cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

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More from @HelenBranswell

Helen Branswell Profile picture
5 Jan
42. #ACIP member Pablo Sanchez, who has been one of the most vocal about his concerns about vaccine-associated myocarditis, is supportive of a *should* recommendation. To borrow a phrase from elsewhere: I've seen enough.
43. #ACIP member Keipp Talbot says "this booster will not be a hammer" becoz too many 12-15 yos aren't vaccinated at all.
"Boosters are incredibly important but they won't solve this problem of the crowded hospitals." Talbot thinks efforts should focus on getting kids dose 1 &2. Image
44. When #ACIP votes (probably in the next few minutes) it will be on a *should* recommendation.
Which means the vote will be about recommending kids 12-17 should get a booster. 16 & 17 yos are included because currently the recommendation for them is a *may* recommendation.
Read 5 tweets
Helen Branswell Profile picture
5 Jan
1. #ACIP is meeting this afternoon to discuss the recently @US_FDA authorization of Covid boosters for youths aged 12 to 15. I'll be live tweeting. The agenda is here cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/… and the meeting can be monitored here: video.ibm.com/channel/VWBXKB…
2. Slide presentations for today's #ACIP meeting can be found here, though most of them aren't yet up: cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/…
3. At present there are 13 of the 15 #ACIP voting members in attendance. Chair Grace Lee says others may join later. This meeting was set up at short notice and members have had to scramble — as they have multiple times through the pandemic — to clear time for this meeting.
Read 40 tweets
Helen Branswell Profile picture
27 Dec 21
1. 🧵
@CDCgov has changed its recommendations about isolation & quarantine following infection or exposure to someone infected with #Covid19. The changes will involve a shortening of isolation/quarantine for most people.
2. People who contract #Covid19 should isolate for 5 days (formerly 10). If their symptoms have ended by then, they should wear a well-fitted mask when around others for 5 days.
If symptoms haven't ended at 5 days, isolation (followed by 5 days of masking) continues till they do.
3. Regarding quarantine: People who've been vaxed & boosted don't need to quarantine after exposure to someone who is infected with #Covid19. But they should wear a mask around others for 10 days after the exposure. And they should get tested 5 days after the exposure event.
Read 4 tweets
Helen Branswell Profile picture
27 Dec 21
1. A sure fire sign #flu is making a comeback: 2 children in the US have died from flu this month. They are the first to die from flu in over a year. Last year there was 1 pediatric flu death, in the week ending Nov. 28, 2020.
Sad to see new additions to this graph.
🧵
2. There've been lots of ugly graphs in the past couple of years, but the pediatric flu deaths one from the @CDCgov's weekly FluView report has been a respite from them. The collapse of flu activity in the earlier days of the pandemic meant no kids dying from flu. Changing now.
3. One child died from #H3N2 #flu the week ending Dec. 11. The second died the week ending Dec. 18; the causative flu strain hasn't been typed.
FluView reports that flu activity continues to increase & flu hospitalizations are climbing. Exactly what hospitals don't need now.
Read 7 tweets
Helen Branswell Profile picture
22 Dec 21
1. @WHO has released its latest global #flu update. Flu activity is still low, but it is definitely picking up after our 20 month or so #influenza holiday. Flu & #Covid cocirculating is going to make everything that much more complicated. who.int/teams/global-i…
🧵
2. @WHO reports that 3.2% of the nearly 235,000 respiratory samples tested for flu from Nov. 22 to Dec. 5 were positive. The flu positivity rate hasn't been that high globally since the second half of March 2020. (Chart=mine)
3. #Flu activity is still low relative to pre-Covid times, but it is on the rise in parts of the world. The mix of viruses circulating depends on the region; in North America & Europe, it's mainly H3N2. That's unfortunate; that component of the vaccine is mismatched.
Read 4 tweets
Helen Branswell Profile picture
22 Dec 21
1. @WHO presser underway. I'll tweet a little.
@DrTedros, WHO's DG, said science came through in 2021 with amazing vaccines. But they were not shared equitably. There were enough doses produced to let every country vaccinate 40% of their people by Sept. But that didn't happen.
2. @DrTedros says vaccine production is increasing. But 20% of doses being used at this point are boosters. "No country can boost its way out of the pandemic," the @WHO DG said.
3. "Blanket booster programs are likely to prolong the pandemic, not to end it," @DrTedros said.
In 2021, 3.5M lives have been lost to #Covid — more than to HIV, TB and malaria combined. It is claiming 50,000 lives per week at this point, he said.
Read 7 tweets

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