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Helen Branswell πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ Profile picture
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Jan 27 β€’ 7 tweets β€’ 5 min read
1. A #flu 🧡:
Activity continued its sharp decline in the week ending Jan 21. It's barely over the epidemic threshold at this point nationally; in 6 regions it's below it. But for the fact that we've seen little #fluB activity, it would be tempting to guess flu season is over. Image
2. But virtually all β€”Β 99.5% β€”Β of the #flu activity so far this season has been caused by flu A. There hasn't been much flu B since the first half of the 2019-20 season. In the Before Times, it was common to see flu B in late winter, early spring. This year? Ask me in June.
3. This #flu season took off like a bat outta hell in October, peaking Thanksgiving week. Activity reached a high apex, but the drop off has been swift. The image on the left shows #influenza-like illness the week ending Jan. 7. On the right, the week ending Jan. 21. ImageImage
4. Six more kids have died this season from #flu, bringing the season total to 91. That number is still lowish vis-a-via the Before Times, but getting into the low end of the range of a normal season. @CDCgov started tracking flu peds deaths after a bad year in 2003-04.... Image
5. The first few years probably reflect a system getting started i.e. artificially low. 2009 was the H1N1 pandemic β€” lots of pediatric deaths. 2011-12 was a very mild season. Most years pre-Covid pediatric #flu deaths ranged between 100 & 200. Image
6. #Flu activity in long-term care facilities has really declined. Always a welcome development.
The whole Fluview report is here: cdc.gov/flu/weekly/ Image
7. We still don't know how well the #flu vaccine worked this year. The strains it targets are well matched to circulating strains but that doesn't necessarily equate to terrific protection, especially with H3 viruses. @CDCgov says it will have effectiveness data in February.

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More from @HelenBranswell

Helen Branswell πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ Profile picture
Jan 20
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?
Read 7 tweets
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

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