1. An update on #flu in the US, with data from @CDCgov for the week ending Jan 29.
For the second year in a row the warnings of a "twindemic" of Covid & flu haven't come to pass. There will be winters when we have to deal with both. But this year we may have dodged that bullet.
For the second year in a row the warnings of a "twindemic" of Covid & flu haven't come to pass. There will be winters when we have to deal with both. But this year we may have dodged that bullet.
2. Currently influenza-like activity is "below baseline." That could mean we've passed the peak of flu season for winter 2021-22. That said, #flu B activity often occurs late in the season — sometimes into March & April. So there could be more flu later.
3. @CDCgov estimates that 1,200 people have died from #flu this winter in the US. And it has received reports of 5 deaths of children. In most regular years, there are somewhere between 100 and 200 children who die from flu.
4. It looks like (non-Covid) influenza-like illness activity in the US peaked the week ending Jan. 1 (left). Activity since then has eased. This is really early for the ILI map to have this much green in it.
5. The burden of #flu this year is really mild vis-a-vis regular years, as this graph on cumulative hospitalizations shows. This year hasn't been that much different from last year (when there really wasn't a flu season) or the 2015-16 season, which was unusually mild.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
