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Helen Branswell πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ Profile picture
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Jan 20 β€’ 7 tweets β€’ 6 min read
1. Time for a #flu 🧡
#Influenza A, which started circulating at high levels earlier this season than in any season since the 2009 #H1N1 pandemic, is declining as quickly as it climbed. In several parts of the country, doctor visits for flu-like illness are below epidemic levels.
2. It is truly remarkable to see the map of #flu-like activity show so little red in the 2nd week of Jan. It is like this year's flu season shifted forward 2 months or so.
Last week on the left. Same week in 2018, on the right, as the 2017-18 season started to take off.
3. Canada is seeing the same phenomenon, reports @BogochIsaac, who raises a key question: Virtually all the #flu activity so far has been #influenza A. Do we have a flu B wave in store? Pre-Covid, flu B often hit late in the season, after flu A had moved through. Will it this yr?
4. @SCOTTeHENSLEY reported earlier this week that Philly is seeing a lot of #flu B recently. Is this the start?
Nationally there was a tiny uptick in the percentage of flu viruses that were flu B in the week ending Jan. 13, up to 2.4% from 0.4%. But that's based on 11 viruses.
5. So for the time being, probably too early to predict if there'll be a nationwide flu B surge.
What is being seen? A sharp decline in outpatient visits for respiratory viruses in all age groups, especially kids, teens and young adults.
6. Likewise there's been a decline in #flu activity in long term care facilities β€” a very good thing.
7. Another 6 kids have died from #flu, bringing the season total to 85. While still lowish, that number will continue to climb. Sometimes there are long delays in reporting of pediatric deaths. Case in point: Last week @CDCgov was informed of a death from July - aka last season.

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More from @HelenBranswell

Helen Branswell πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ Profile picture
Jan 13
1. A #flu 🧡
Flu activity continues to decline in most parts of the US.
Virtually all of the flu transmission so far has been influenza A, which means we could get some flu B activity later, in a smaller wave. That was not uncommon in flu years pre-Covid.
2. Then again, some years there's a single, sharp wave of flu activity and once it's done, we're done. That's what happened in 2017-2018, which was a severe flu season. (This season, so far, has not been a severe season. It has been an unusually early season.)
3. Five more kids have died from #flu, bringing the total to 79 to date. That's a shock after the first 2 years of the Covid pandemic when only 45 pediatric flu deaths were reported.
But 79 is still low compared to pre-Covid years. The big year (left) was the H1N1 pandemic.
Read 6 tweets
Helen Branswell πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ Profile picture
Jan 6
1. A #flu thread:
US activity continued to decline in the week ending Dec. 31. The current wave of flu β€” caused exclusively by flu A viruses β€” has peaked. In pre-Covid times, it was common to see a second peak with flu B late in the season, March-ish. Will that happen in 2023? πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ
2. Another 13 children have died from #flu this year. These deaths bring the 2022-23 total to 74. Too high, but still low by pre-Covid standards, when 100 to 200 pediatric deaths were reported/year. The new deaths occurred over 9 weeks but were reported to @CDCgov last week.
3. The drop off in outpatient visits for #influenza-like illnesses has been happening primarily in kids, teens & young adults, the age groups that have fueled this fall & early winter's sharp peak of #flu activity.
Read 5 tweets
Helen Branswell πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ Profile picture
Dec 30, 2022
1. A short #flu tweet:
While flu activity remains high around the US, the decline that began a few weeks ago continues. 6.1% of visits to HCPs for the week ending Dec. 24 were for #influenza-like illnesses, down from 6.3% the previous week. Image
2. The percentage of long-term care facilities reporting #flu outbreaks has also dropped off a little, which is a very good piece of news. Image
3. The bad news: 14 more children have died from #influenza this #flu season. The deaths occurred over the past 6 weeks but were reported to @CDCgov last week. So far this season 61 kids have died from flu. An awful toll, but still low compared to most pre-Covid years. Image
Read 5 tweets
Helen Branswell πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ Profile picture
Dec 16, 2022
1. It's Friday. Let's talk #flu.
Gonna keep this short because I wrote a story about what today's FluView report from @CDCgov shows. You can read that piece here.
statnews.com/2022/12/16/ear…
2. Nine more children have died from #flu this season; the total to-date is 30. That's number will rise; but it's still well below the total of most pre-Covid flu seasons. Still, as @CDCgov's Lynnette Brammer told me today: β€œWe never like to see that number go up.” Image
3. You can see here how visits to health care providers for #influenza-like illnesses has declined over the past two weeks. You can also see some seasons have a couple of peaks. What will this one look like? Ask me in June. Image
Read 5 tweets
Helen Branswell πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ Profile picture
Dec 9, 2022
1. A #flu thread:
#Influenza-like illnesses continue to grip the country. I'd love to know how NH, VT, MI, WV, AK & SK have seemingly evaded what's going on everywhere else so far.
This isn't all flu. But there's a lot of it and far more than is normal so early in the season.
2. Seven more children have died from #flu, bringing to 21 the pediatric flu death total so far this year. Prior to the pandemic somewhere between 100 & 200 kids a year died from flu.
3. So where do things stand with the #flu season? Will it peak early, then decline? We'll know when we know.
It's tempting to look at this epi curve & think the worst is past. But as a @CDCgov flu expert reminded me today, people don't often go to the dr. around holidays.
Read 6 tweets
Helen Branswell πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ Profile picture
Dec 2, 2022
1. It's Friday. Time for a #flu 🧡
So #influenza-like illness is still rocking the country. This year's epi curve - the one to the far left - is incredibly high & sharp. That's not all flu & it tells us nothing about severity. It does tell us a lot of people have ILIs these days.
2. These data are from @CDCgov's FluView, which covers the week ending Nov. 26. With the intergenerational mixing that went on over Thanksgiving, I'd assume there won't be any abating of activity for the next couple of weeks.
It is extraordinary to see this at this time of year.
3. Two more children have died from #flu, bringing the season's total to 14 so far. There's always a reporting lag so one should expect this number to grow. That said, if lots of kids were dying of flu this fall we'd know it from other sources.
Read 8 tweets

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