1. A flu 🧵, because it's Friday.
We're definitely into #flu season, but this is not like the flu seasons of yore. (Not yet, anyway.) Still, it's important to remember hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid. Flu on top of Covid is an additional stressor the system doesn't need.
We're definitely into #flu season, but this is not like the flu seasons of yore. (Not yet, anyway.) Still, it's important to remember hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid. Flu on top of Covid is an additional stressor the system doesn't need.
2. Things appear to be heating up in many parts of the country, though this map charts influenza-like illness, which is more than just #flu. @CDCgov reports that the NE and Central parts of the country are reporting more #influenza than the west.
3. The data in this week's FluView covers the week ending Jan. 1. Reports from over the holidays can sometimes contain incomplete data, which may explain this week's test positivity rate, which is 3.8%. That's down from 6.2% the week before. I doubt flu is actually abating.
4. What #flu there is is ALL H3N2, one of the influenza A viruses. Almost nothing else being seen here this winter.
5. And the H3N2 viruses being seen in the U.S. this winter are not a perfect match for the one in the #flu vaccine, unfortunately. The vaccine strain is known as 2a.1. The circulating strains are 2a.2. @CDCgov thinks/hopes there is some cross protection.
6. To put this week's flu positivity rate in context vis-a-vis normal (ie pre-pandemic) seasons, here's what rates for week 52 looked like in going back to 2013-14. Flu peaks at different times but this year's activity is low for this time of year. 2015-16 was a late/mild season.
7. More context: hospitalizations for #flu are rising right now. But the cumulative rate of hospitalizations is still low in comparison to most recent pre-pandemic seasons.
8. If you want to check out the FluView report, you can find it here. cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
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