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Helen Branswell 🇺🇦 Profile picture
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Mar 3 • 6 tweets • 5 min read
1. #Flu activity has dropped off dramatically since its peak around Thanksgiving, but this odd early season still can't seem to bring itself to an end. For the 6th week in a row it is hovering just above the epidemic threshold.
A 🧵
2. That said, rhinoviruses & human coronaviruses are causing more #influenza-like illness right now than #flu is, according to the Biofire syndromic trends. syndromictrends.com
3. @CDCgov has been informed of 2 more pediatric #flu deaths; both kids died in early December. So far this season there have been 117 confirmed flu deaths in children. This graph (mine, with data from CDC) gives you a picture of how this year compares to others re: kids.
4. The burden of illness from this #flu season is on the mildish side. @CDCgov estimates 26M illnesses, 290K hospitalizations & 18K deaths. In terms of severe illness & deaths, many years have been worse.
A lot of flu doesn't necessarily = severe season.
cdc.gov/flu/about/burd…
5. Very few places in the country are still reporting #flu activity, as you can see on the map on the left. On the right is the same week in the 2017-18 flu season, which was a very bad year. Flu season has wound down very early in 2022-23.
6. One last thing: Still no sign of a surge in #influenza B cases. Doesn't mean there won't be some later; we'll know when we know. There's been remarkably little #flu B this year. It's made up about 1% of all cases where viruses were subtyped. cdc.gov/flu/weekly/

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More from @HelenBranswell

Helen Branswell 🇺🇦 Profile picture
Feb 26
1. @WHO has finally issued an update on the #Marburg situation in Equatorial Guinea. The "finally" is not criticism of WHO. They issue these with info provided by an affected country & sometimes countries are not eager to share information.
The situation is complex.
A 🧵
2. There has only been 1 confirmed case of #Marburg so far, but that is mainly because 8 other people suspected of having had the disease died without testing. This is Equatorial Guinea's first #Marburg outbreak & @WHO is concerned about the country's capacity to cope. Image
3. There have been no cases in health workers yet, a blessing given 1 of the people who died was in a health care setting at death. People who are dying of Marburg are teeming with virus; preparing bodies for burial often results in infection, which may have been the case here. Image
Read 7 tweets
Helen Branswell 🇺🇦 Profile picture
Feb 26
1. @WHO has issued an update on the #H5N1 situation in Cambodia. It confirms what has come out over the past few days. 2 confirmed cases, an 11 yo girl who died & her father who remains asymptomatic. 11 other contacts tested negative. A couple of noteworthy points....
2. The #H5N1 virus was from a strain of H5 viruses that has been circulating in southeast Asia since 2014. This is a different strain from the one that has swept across the Americas in the past couple of years. Different strain could equal slightly different behavior.
3. The father remains asymptomatic. Given he and his daughter would have shared contact with infected birds, he could be a true case (and lucky). I do wonder whether he was truly infected or whether the swabbing just picked up virus in his nose.
Read 5 tweets
Helen Branswell 🇺🇦 Profile picture
Feb 24
1. @CDCgov has been told of 4 more children who died from #flu this season, bringing the 2022-23 total to 115 so far. There have been years with a higher pediatric death toll, but it's tragic to see so many kids die from flu. No word on their vaccination status. (Graph = mine)
🧵 Image
2. @CDCgov's latest FluView report, out today, reports that #flu activity is low in most parts of the country. In the few places where it isn't low, it has declined from the previous week. It remains to be seen if flu season is effectively over or if there's more to come. Image
3. Oddly, though, the epi curve has not yet slipped below the epidemic threshold. Strange to see it skip along just above the threshold for 5 weeks running. Image
Read 5 tweets
Helen Branswell 🇺🇦 Profile picture
Feb 17
1. #Flu activity is at low levels now in most of the country, but the percentage of visits to health providers that are for flu-like illnesses is still limping along just above the epidemic threshold level for the 4th week in a row.
A 🧵
2. #H3N2 viruses, which have been dominant all season, have really declined. In the week ending Feb. 11, #H1N1 viruses made up the bulk of the illness-causing viruses. There's an uptick in #fluB viruses, but they make up a very small proportion of viruses so far this season.
3. @CDCgov was informed of another 5 pediatric #flu deaths last week, bringing the season total to 111. Unfortunately this number will likely continue to climb for a bit.
This graph is mine — shows how this season's pediatric flu deaths compare to previous seasons.
Read 4 tweets
Helen Branswell 🇺🇦 Profile picture
Feb 10
1. #Flu activity in most parts of the country is now low, @CDCgov reports in its latest FluView update, for the week ending Feb. 4. For the 3rd week in a row the rate of outpatient visits that are for flu-like illnesses has hovered just above the epidemic threshold. Image
2. That said, most of the country is reporting minimal or low activity. NYC, NM and Puerto Rico are outliers on that. You can find the FluView report here: cdc.gov/flu/weekly/ind… Image
3. Another 9 pediatric #flu deaths have been reported to @CDCgov, bringing the season's total to 106 so far. The days of low pediatric flu deaths are clearly over. This total is in the low end of the range of what was seen in flu seasons before Covid.
graph = mine, data ex CDC. Image
Read 4 tweets
Helen Branswell 🇺🇦 Profile picture
Feb 3
1. #Flu activity continues to decline across the US, though the percentage of outpatient visits for #influenza-like activity is hovering just over the epidemic threshold. There's always a chance of more flu, especially flu B, but for now the big wave is pretty much done.
A 🧵
2. #Flu outbreaks reported from long-term care facilities has dropped down considerably, a sign there's less flu circulating. Those are the folks who are most vulnerable, so this is a good thing.
3. The other highly vulnerable population is young kids. @CDCgov was notified of 6 additional pediatric #flu deaths in the week ending Jan. 28; they bring the season total to 97 so far. Sad to see pediatric flu deaths heading back towards pre-Covid levels.
(chart=mine)
Read 4 tweets

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