Flu season has taken a grim turn in Virginia, as the state’s health department has reported the first death of a child caused by complications associated with influenza.
Flu season has taken a grim turn in Virginia, as the state’s health department has reported the first death of a child caused by complications associated with influenza.
In order to protect the family’s privacy, the only information the Virginia Department of Health is releasing about the child is that they were age 4 or younger and that the death was reported in the eastern region of the state.
“We at the Virginia Department of Health, are broken hearted and extend our sympathies to the family of this child during this difficult time,” State Health Commissioner Karen Shelton said in a news release. “Even though the flu is common, it can cause serious illness and even death. I urge everyone who is eligible to receive the flu vaccine to do so not only to protect themselves, but to protect those around them.”
Lisa Sollot, respiratory disease program coordinator with the state health department, told WTOP it’s not too late to get the flu vaccine.
“This year, we were afforded a few extra weeks because activity started so late that I think it may have given us a little extra time for those who are may be procrastinating getting the vaccine,” she said. “We know that activity could start increasing at any minute, and so we know that there’s a lot ahead of us in terms of activity.”
“We do recommend the flu vaccine as the best way to protect yourself and others,” she added.
Sollot said it’s also important to take precautions, such as staying home when sick, avoiding others when they’re sick, cleaning high-tough surfaces and washing your hands frequently.
Since COVID-19 came into the picture, Sollot said flu season has become a bit more unpredictable and it’s important for people to remain vigilant.
“Typically, activity starts in about October, maybe November. And this year, we really didn’t have activity start until about December. And then it climbed rapidly, almost reaching last year’s peak, before also declining quickly, which is strange activity that we haven’t seen in the past,” she said.
“It has also made us think that this is not necessarily a true decline, and that it is possible that we could see activity surge again in the future, which is why these prevention tips are so important to help protect yourself and your family,” she added.
According to the state health department, less than 30% of eligible Virginians reported receiving a flu vaccine this season. Those interested in getting a flu shot can locate providers on the department’s website.
The state health department said the level of respiratory illnesses are considered “moderate” — where over 18.6% of emergency department visits can be attributed to the viral illnesses.
Last season was the deadliest flu season on record for children in the U.S., according to health officials in Virginia.
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Weekly hospitalizations from the virus went from under 7,000 at the start of December to over 33,000 by the last week of 2025, surpassing rates of the past few years.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that more than 11 million people have gotten the flu so far this season, resulting in over 5,000 deaths.
Why is it so bad? Doctors said that the surge in flu cases is largely related to a new mutation of the influenza A virus called “subclade K” — a strain that is not well covered by this year’s flu vaccine.
Each year, scientists have to try and predict in the spring what strains to include in the coming season’s flu vaccine. Sometimes they make a good match, but other times, like this year, the virus develops an unexpected mutation that helps it elude the vaccine’s protection.
Although this year’s flu vaccine doesn’t protect as well against the dominant subclade K strain, doctors still say that getting vaccinated is worthwhile.
It can prevent severe disease and death and protects against other strains of the flu that are circulating.
How do scientists decide what goes in the flu vaccine?
There are two major types of influenza that circulate during flu season – influenza A and influenza B. Both can be further broken into subtypes, genetic clades and subclades that describe various different mutations of the virus. A clade is a group of organisms with a common ancestor.
Every year, the flu virus develops mutations to help it sneak past human immune systems. Each year, scientists try to predict, months in advance, what those mutations might be and which strains will circulate in the coming flu season.
The vaccine formula has to be decided far ahead of the fall flu season so there is time for manufacturing and distribution.
“We do all that we can to predict which strains will predominate, but occasionally, strains emerge that are more divergent from what we predicted,” said Dr. Buddy Creech, director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program. “That’s the story of this year.”
Why doesn’t the vaccine match?
This year’s vaccine protected against three different strains — two strains of influenza A (subtypes H1N1 and H3N2) and a strain of influenza B (Victoria lineage).
But after the Food and Drug Administration had decided on a formulation in March, the influenza A (H3N2) strain began to mutate.
“This happens almost every two years with one or more of the three vaccine strains,” said Andrew Pekosz, a molecular microbiology and immunology professor at Johns Hopkins University. “While the vaccine gets ‘locked in,’ the virus still circulates in humans and continues to mutate, resulting in the ‘mismatch.’”
The new subclade K strain only became the dominant strainafter the vaccine formulation was decided.
Does the vaccine still offer some protection?
Yes, and doctors say it is still worth getting if you haven’t yet.
“Even when the vaccine is not a perfect match to circulating strains, those who are vaccinated have lower rates of hospitalization and death,” said Dr. Caitlin Li, a pediatric infectious disease doctor at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
Although there is a mismatch between the H3N2 strain the vaccine was formulated to protect against and the strain that is circulating among the public, that isn’t the case for the other two strains this year’s vaccine protects against — influenza A (H1N1) and influenza B, Pekosz told PolitiFact.
Getting vaccinated offers protection against the other two strains, which are still making people sick this year. “We often see a different influenza strain causing disease late in the influenza season,” Pekosz said. Future you might say thanks!
It’s not too late to get vaccinated, Creech said, especially if you’re “at high risk for complications from infection.”
“Right now, there is no data suggesting it’s either more severe or more contagious,” Pekosz said. But because the virus is better than usual at getting around the vaccine’s defenses, more people than usual are susceptible to infection.
Lower than ideal flu vaccination rates, around 40% nationwide, may also be contributing to the intensity of this flu season.
Flu cases are continuing to spike in the United States. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that at least 5,000 people have died of the illness this year and that doctor’s visits for flu have reached their highest level in decades.
The CDC estimated there have been at least 11 million flu cases as of December 27, as well as at least 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. There have been nine flu-related pediatric deaths, the CDC said.
At the same time, 8.2% of outpatient doctor’s visits nationwide were for flu-like illnesses, the CDC said. That’s the highest level recorded since 1997, according to CDC data.
Forty-eight jurisdictions are showing “high” or “very high” levels of flu, the agency said. Last week, 32 jurisdictions met that description.
Only four jurisdictions had low or minimal flu levels. Nevada has “insufficient data,” the CDC said.
A new subtype of influenza A called H3N2 is spreading quickly and fueling this year’s cases, experts told CBS News. The CDC reported that of the 994 influenza viruses that tested positive for flu between Dec. 20 and Dec. 27, 971 of them had influenza A. When 600 of those specimens were subtyped, 91.2% of them were found to be H3N2. The strain is known to cause tough flu seasons, especially for seniors, and is harder for the immune system to recognize.
At the same time, fewer people have received the flu vaccine. The CDC estimated that about 130 million doses of the flu vaccine had been given this year. On Monday, the CDC announced updates to its recommended childhood vaccine schedule. The changes included saying that children who are not high-risk should engage in “shared clinical decision-making” with their doctor about whether to get the flu vaccine. The American Academy of Pediatrics called the changes “dangerous” and said they would continue to share their own recommendations.
“Making these changes amid ongoing outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases shows a disregard for the real confusion families already face,” said Dr. Ronald G. Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, in a statement.
The Oregon Health Authority reports 15.9% of the influenza tests submitted the week of Dec. 21 came back positive; a jump from the 10.8% reported the previous week.
Portland, Ore. – Influenza cases are surging around the country and in Oregon. According to the latest available data from the Oregon Health Authority, almost 16% of the state’s flu tests came back positive, during the week of Christmas; up from just 11% the previous week. There were also 31 flu-related hospitalizations, last week, in the Portland-metro area, the only region in which the state tracks hospitalizations. The week of December 14, the OHA reported just seven hospitalizations.
The OHA also reports requests for flu shots this season are down slightly. “The elderly are definitely more likely to become severely ill or be hospitalized, but younger kids have the same risk,” says Kaiser Permanente Pediatrician Dr. Lisa Denike, “Vaccination really can prevent those serious side effects of influenza infection.”
Dr. Denike admits it can be tough to tell the difference between the early stage of the flu and a cold, but a high fever is often the first sign, “Last year, we saw kids who were unvaccinated have fevers for almost seven days, which is a really long time to have a high fever.” She adds, “Body aches are another hallmark of influenza. So, aching in your arms or legs, headaches, just really feeling rundown. Whereas more of the common cold viruses cause maybe a sniffle, runny nose, some congestion.” But treatments are available, “If you do have an exposure to influenza in your household in a young child, within that first 24-48 hours, it is possible to use an anti-viral like Tamiflu that can help prevent a child from getting more ill.”
Parents can help prevent the spread of influenza, says Dr. Denike, by using the same measures learned during the pandemic, “We know that masking, covering your coughs and sneezes, frequent hand washing, sanitizing surfaces that are high touch in your home, can really make a difference.”
New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows flu cases continuing to spike around the country, with some areas seeing record cases of the illness.
The CDC estimated there have been at least 7.5 million flu cases this season as of Dec. 20, as well as at least 81,000 hospitalizations and 3,100 deaths. There have been eight flu-related pediatric deaths, the CDC said.
The CDC says 32 jurisdictions are showing “high” or “very high” levels of flu. Last week, just 17 jurisdictions were in those categories. Jurisdictions include all 50 states and some territories, as well as the District of Columbia and New York City.
A CDC map uses the proportion of outpatient visits to health care providers for influenza-like illnesses that include a fever plus a cough or sore throat to measure flu activity levels in the jurisdiction.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The New York State Department of Health said that it had seen about 71,000 cases for the week that ended Dec. 20 — the most ever recorded in one week since the department began tracking the illness in 2004. There were over 3,600 flu hospitalizations recorded in the state during the week.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health also recorded “high” flu activity. Boston announced a 114% increase in recent flu cases, with children seeing the biggest increase in cases. Meanwhile, a spike in cases prompted a Minnesota school to shift to online learning before Christmas. CBS News Minnesota reported that the state had seen 113 flu-related hospitalizations in 2025, more than double the number recorded last year.
Experts have expressed concern about this year’s flu season. A new subtype of influenza A called H3N2 is spreading quickly. The CDC reported that of 2,086 specimens that tested positive for flu between Dec. 13 and Dec. 20, 2,029 of them had influenza A. When 1,627 of those specimens were subtyped, 1,493, or nearly 92%, were found to be H3N2.
Jesse Bloom, a scientist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center who studies viral evolution, told CBS News that the virus has changed just enough to make it harder for people’s immune systems to recognize the illness. The strain is known for causing tougher flu seasons, especially for seniors.
Fewer people have also gotten flu shots this year. About 130 million doses of the flu vaccine have been administered nationwide, the CDC said.
Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds, said that while experts are expecting a “H3N2 mismatch,” the vaccine’s “match to H1N1 and flu B is expected to be good.” Meanwhile, early season data from the United Kingdom suggests that the vaccines are still helping prevent severe illness, especially in children.
“Getting the vaccine is something that people, particularly those who are in high-risk groups, can do,” Bloom said. “It’s not going to eliminate their chance of getting infected, but it does mitigate their risk.”
(CNN) — Most US states are experiencing high or very high flu activity, and levels continue to increase nationwide.
“Flu season is just getting started, so I think it’s really hard to say exactly what it’s going to look like,” Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told CNN on Tuesday. “What we’re seeing right now is a very rapid escalation of cases.”
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there have been at least 7,500,000 illnesses, 81,000 hospitalizations and 3,100 deaths from flu this season, according to an update published Tuesday with data through December 20. At least eight children have died from flu this season.
Among the states with the highest levels of flu activity are Colorado, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York and South Carolina, according to the CDC.
Trends are increasing across key surveillance metrics: Laboratory testing, outpatient health care visits, hospitalizations and mortality are all higher than they were in the previous weekly update from the CDC.
One surveillance system shows that flu hospitalizations have doubled; more than 19,000 people were admitted to the hospital with flu during the most recent week, up from about 9,900 the week before.
The CDC says that “severity indicators remain low at this time, but influenza activity is expected to continue for several weeks.”
Staying ahead of ‘super flu’
Influenza A(H3N2) viruses are the most commonly reported, and additional genetic testing suggests that a new flu variant — called subclade K — appears to be behind the vast majority of cases in the US. After driving high case numbers in other parts of the world, subclade K got the nickname “super flu.”
“This is a strain that’s different than what we’ve seen in previous years,” Osterholm said. He wouldn’t call it a “super strain,” he said, but “I would say it surely does challenge our previous immunity, in terms of protecting us.”
This new variant wasn’t included in this year’s flu shots because it was identified after scientists had chosen the strains to include, but the vaccines contain related strains, and globally, they seem to be working pretty well against the variant.
The CDC recommends that everyone age 6 months and older get a flu vaccine each season, but vaccination rates have been decreasing in recent years. Only about 130 million flu vaccines have been distributed this season, CDC data shows, 13 million fewer doses than at this point last year. Additional data suggests that only about 17% of children and 23% of adults had gotten their seasonal flu vaccine by the end of November.
Osterholm encourages people who haven’t been vaccinated against flu to act quickly as the virus is “wiping through” the country.
“It’s not too late to get your flu shot,” he said. “It doesn’t guarantee you won’t get flu. It doesn’t guarantee that you still won’t get sick, but it surely is a big improvement on what the otherwise outcome could be, of either being seriously ill or dying.”
(CNN) — As millions of Americans hit the road or take to the skies for the holidays, another seasonal traveler is picking up speed: influenza.
Flu activity is already rising across the country. In the week ending December 13, roughly 4% of visits to health care providers were for respiratory illnesses, and nearly 10,000 patients were hospitalized with influenza, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released Friday. So far, three children already have died from flu-related causes this flu season.
Those numbers mean the virus may be closer to home than many families realize. Holiday gatherings could include someone just recovering from the flu, or someone beginning to feel sick. Should they still show up to open presents on Christmas morning? How long should a visit be postponed before heading to grandma’s to bake cookies?
As flu cases climb, here are the flu-related rules families should know this holiday season.
If I’m having symptoms, when should I take a flu test?
There are several over-the-counter flu tests available in the United States, and they can be taken at home as a nasal swab, similar to Covid-19 tests.
Many doctors recommend taking a test as soon as you experience symptoms.
“Particularly if you’re a person in a high-risk group,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“Those persons are people who are age 65 and older, anyone who has a chronic underlying medical condition, if you’re immune compromised, if you’re a pregnant person and very young children,” he said. “Those are all people who are in high-risk, and once they have symptoms, that’s the time to get tested, because we would have antivirals available to help keep you out of the hospital.”
Flu symptoms usually start suddenly with fever, chills, headache, body aches and fatigue, Dr. Pamela Lindor, a pediatrician at Bluebird Kids Health in Jacksonville, Florida, said in an email.
While you should quickly start treatment and avoid exposing others when you test positive for flu, “if the over the counter test is negative but your symptoms are severe, consider getting a more accurate test from your doctor or urgent care center,” she said.
Testing is key because once it is determined which respiratory illness you have, you can then receive appropriate treatment, Schaffner said.
“Flu is not the only illness we’re concerned about. Maybe you have Covid, and if you have Covid, we have another medication that could help keep you out of the hospital,” he said.
At what point should I take antiviral medications for flu?
Flu antiviral drugs, such as Tamiflu or Xofluza, are prescription medications, and they work best when started early, ideally within two days after flu symptoms begin.
“For the flu, if you are ill, the sooner you begin the antiviral, the more effective it is,” Schaffner said. “There is the 48-hour rule. That is, for it to be maximally effective, you have to initiate treatment within the first 48 hours after you get symptoms. But even after 48 hours – and this is especially true for high-risk people – you can still have some modulating effect of the antivirals.”
As soon as someone starts to show symptoms, they should stay home and avoid contact with other people to not spread the virus.
“You’re capable of transmitting the influenza virus the day before you get symptoms,” Schaffner said. “But nonetheless, wear a mask and avoid other people in your family as much as possible until your symptoms start to abate and you’ve had no fever for 24 hours without using Tylenol.”
According to the CDC, people can return to their normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, they have not had a fever without using fever-reduction medication, and their overall symptoms are improving.
“This will usually be at least 4-5 days,” Lindor said. “Flu is most contagious starting the day before symptoms develop and continuing for about one week.”
If I’m wearing a mask, can I still be around people for gatherings?
Some people who have symptoms or fever might be tempted to still visit family or open Christmas gifts with loved ones, as long as they wear a mask, but Schaffner still warned against it.
“If you’ve developed symptoms, I think you’ve got to stay home,” Schaffner said.
“Even if you say, ‘Well, I have these symptoms, but I’ll wear a mask.’ Yes, that will reduce the chance of spreading but not reduce it to zero. And guess what? It’s very hard to eat and drink with a mask on,” he said. “So, you will indeed be exposing people. And when you get to family members, even when you wear that mask, they’ll be hugging and kissing. These are very close circumstances, so you’ve got to restrain yourself and separate yourself, otherwise you are very much in danger of becoming a dreaded spreader.”
What should household members do if someone else in the home tests positive?
While someone with flu should take precautions to isolate themselves and not expose others, there are important steps their household members also can take to reduce their risk of getting sick.
“Good handwashing is very important to prevent spread,” Lindor said. “Common surfaces in the house should be disinfected.”
Can I take antivirals to prevent getting sick?
Some doctors may prescribe antiviral medications to people who have been exposed to someone with flu, but they are not yet showing signs or symptoms themselves, especially if that person is in a high-risk group.
“Tamiflu can be prescribed to people who have been exposed to the flu, and is usually taken for 7-10 days to prevent infection,” Lindor said. “Xofluza can also be used prophylactically, and only one dose is needed, for adults and children 5 or older.”
For example, a 22-year-old college student may travel home for Christmas to visit their grandfather. The next day, after they have already visited their grandfather, they test positive for the flu.
“Their grandfather is obviously in a high-risk group. Should the grandfather take Tamiflu for five days? That’s not a bad idea,” Schaffner said. “In that circumstance, it could very well avert the influenza infection.”
When do I know whether to go to the hospital?
It’s important to stay in contact with your doctor once you test positive for flu and experience worsening symptoms, especially if you are in a high-risk group, Schaffner said.
And with your doctor, “have those discussions about when it is that you need to go to the hospital,” he said. “But difficulty breathing, coughing up blood, really feeling terrible, temperatures of 103 or higher – all of those things are indicators that you really need medical attention.”
Some other “warning signs” that may require urgent medical attention include “dehydration, chest pain, lethargy, mental status changes, seizures or severe weakness,” Lindor said. “Confusion, behavior changes, or high persistent fever for over 3 days also warrant urgent medical attention.”
Is it too late to get a flu shot?
There is still time to receive your seasonal flu shot if you haven’t already.
“For all those people out there who are still well, if you haven’t been vaccinated, please get the vaccine. Don’t linger,” Schaffner said.
“That’s a holiday present to you and to everyone else around you,” he said. “There’s more than one kind of influenza virus out there, and the vaccine helps prevent serious disease due to three different types of influenza virus.”
Lindor said that overall, the best way to avoid having the flu disrupt family gatherings during the holidays is “for all family members to get their flu vaccine early in the flu season each year.”
Doctors and scientists say this year’s influenza season could be tougher than usual. A new version of the flu virus, called H3N2, is spreading quickly. At the same time, fewer people are getting flu shots.
“This flu season is no joke. We are seeing more cases than we would expect for this time of year,” Dr. Amanda Kravitz, a pediatrician at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, said on “CBS Mornings.” Specifically, she explained, “we are seeing influenza A, and within influenza A we are seeing a subtype or variant called H3N2.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 17 jurisdictions are reporting “high” or “very high” levels of flu.
“It’s pretty likely to be an H3N2-dominated flu season,” said Jesse Bloom, a scientist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center who studies viral evolution. “I don’t see any reason to think that this is an unprecedentedly bad one, but current indicators are that it may be substantially more severe than the typical winter flu season.”
Bloom said the H3N2 virus has changed just enough to make it harder for people’s immune systems to recognize, but a flu shot could still help.
“Getting the vaccine is something that people, particularly those who are in high-risk groups, can do,” he explained. “It’s not going to eliminate their chance of getting infected, but it does mitigate their risk.”
A changing virus
Other experts share Bloom’s concern. “I would say pretty worried,” said Dr. Helen Chu, a flu expert at the University of Washington. “Based on the U.K. and Japan data, it’s looking like it’s causing a lot of cases of flu and hospitalizations.”
She said flu activity “is starting everywhere right now,” overlapping with RSV but coming before a likely winter COVID-19 wave. Early flu vaccine data from other countries show good protection at first, around 70% in children, but that may not last.
“Total season effectiveness is probably going to actually be much, much lower,” Chu warned, because immunity fades over time.
Trevor Bedford, who also studies viral evolution at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, said H3N2 tends to evolve faster than other influenza strains.
“I expect more H3 incidence than the typical year and poorer vaccine effectiveness,” he said. These large “jumps” in how the virus appears to our immune system usually occur every three to four years, he explained.
Stephen Morse, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Columbia University, noted that influenza’s behavior still defies confident forecasting.
“Many excellent scientists have come to grief trying to predict what influenza will do — consider 1976,” he said, referring to a year with a notorious scare over a swine flu outbreak that didn’t end up spreading widely. He added that the emergence of the H3N2 K subclade was “one of those surprises,” and while surveillance detected it quickly, “the bad news is that we weren’t really prepared for it.”
Why that matters: H3N2 is known for causing tougher flu seasons, especially for seniors. The new strain has changed in ways that make it harder for the immune system to recognize, so more people may get sick and need hospital care.
The flu vaccine still helps
Even with these changes, doctors say the annual flu shot is still the best protection available.
“The match to H1N1 and flu B is expected to be good,” said Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds. “Even though we are expecting a H3N2 mismatch, vaccine effectiveness doesn’t always correlate with vaccine match. … Bottom line, still a good idea to get the vaccine.”
Early-season data from the U.K. suggest the flu vaccine is still helping prevent severe illness, especially in children, even with the H3N2 mismatch. Protection in adults appears more modest and is expected to decline over time. Experts stress that flu vaccines are designed mainly to reduce severe disease, hospitalizations, and deaths — not necessarily to prevent every infection.
Dr. Gregory Gray, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, added that people who work with animals should also be vaccinated. “Persons working with cattle, poultry, and pigs should receive their annual influenza vaccine,” he said. That helps stop human viruses from mixing with animal ones and creating new strains that could be dangerous to both.
Morse also underscored the value of vaccination despite the virus’s unpredictability.
“I still advocate the annual influenza vaccine… It’s still a good precaution,” he said, pointing out that flu shots help protect against multiple circulating viruses, not just H3N2.
Flu symptoms to watch for, and what you can do
The CDC estimates there have been 4.6 million flu cases across the U.S. since this season began, and 1,900 patients have died from it, including at least three children.
“There are tons of these cases throughout the country, and it’s causing a very, very severe flu,” Kravitz said. “Symptoms that are very intense, they come on really, really rapidly. It’s very contagious, so it is spreading quickly through communities.”
Flu is often accompanied by “high, high fevers, like 103, 104 degrees Fahrenheit,” as well as body aches and cough, Kravitz said. In addition, she added, “we see vomiting in children this year, specifically with this variant of the flu.”
She advised parents to help keep their child hydrated, and “if the symptoms last a long time, more than four or five days, especially that high fever, it’s a good idea to call their pediatrician.”
Experts say there’s no need to panic, but it’s important to prepare.
“Get your vaccine,” Chu said. “It’s still not too late.” The shot helps protect against severe illness and may even give “some cross protection against H5N1 as well,” she added.
Doctors also stress the importance of early testing and treatment. Antiviral medications like Tamiflu and Xofluza still work against the flu strains circulating this season, including H3N2, but they work best when started within the first couple of days of symptoms — especially for older adults, young children, pregnant people, and those with chronic health conditions.
Gray said the country needs better flu testing and more vaccines for humans and livestock.
Webby summed it up simply: “It’s more of the same: vaccination, hygiene, and keeping an eye out for anything unusual.”
Bird flu still rare, but worth watching
The first human case of a bird flu strain, H5N5, was recently reported in Washington state. It has not spread to others, but scientists are watching closely.
“The risk to the general public from the H5N1 virus is still very low,” Webby said. “But an H5 pandemic could easily make the COVID-19 pandemic look like a cake walk.”
Chu said fall bird migrations make this the time of year when cases in birds, and sometimes in people, tend to rise.
“This is the time of year when we see the H5 cases,” she said. “But a lot of the surveillance programs have been defunded, so in Washington state, there’s not been as much as in years past.”
Morse warned that gaps in surveillance, especially in agriculture, leave room for dangerous blind spots.
Surveillance is still crucial. It needs to be sustained. … Agriculture especially has to do much more,” he said, noting that past outbreaks in pigs and cattle were missed until they were well underway.
Experts say avian flu remains a low risk for most people right now, but it is a low-probability, high-impact threat that requires close monitoring.
Dec 19 (Reuters) – The United States Department of Agriculture on Friday confirmed that a case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a Wisconsin dairy herd marked a new spillover event from wildlife to cattle, separate from previous outbreaks.
The virus, identified as H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b genotype D1.1., was confirmed through whole genome sequencing by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories on December 17, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said in a statement.
It said most detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza in U.S. dairy herds have resulted from movements linked to an original spillover event that occurred in Texas in late 2023, involving the B3.13 strain.
Earlier this year, two isolated spillovers were detected in Nevada and Arizona, involving the D1.1 strain.
The Wisconsin case, detected under USDA’s National Milk Testing Strategy, has not led to additional herd infections, APHIS said.
USDA said the findings do not pose a risk to consumer health or the commercial milk supply, as pasteurization kills the virus and milk from affected animals is diverted or destroyed.
It added that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to consider the risk to the public to be low.
USDA urged dairy producers to maintain strict biosecurity and report any livestock showing clinical signs or unusual wildlife deaths.
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators last week urged the administration of President Donald Trump to finalize a science-based plan for developing a bird flu vaccine for livestock, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
(Reporting by Anjana Anil in Bengaluru, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
Ahead of the holidays, cases in the U.S. are already increasing in most states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Seasonal influenza activity continues to increase in most areas of the country,” the agency said in a weekly update. “Some indicators are elevated, but severity indicators remain low, and flu season is just starting.”
While the timing of the increased flu activity is similar to previous years, there is something unique about the season: a new variant.
The variant, called subclade K, has increased rapidly in Europe and several countries in East Asia, according to the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO. The organization issued a call to strengthen surveillance and promote vaccination – particularly among older adults and people with risk factors.
“PAHO also urges countries to ensure timely clinical management of cases and prepare health services for the possibility of early, or more intense, respiratory disease activity,” it said.
Here is what to know about the flu season and new variant:
What’s Going on with Flu Season and How Does It Compare to Previous Ones?
Five jurisdictions are experiencing high or very high levels of influenza-like illness that includes fever plus a cough or sore throat: New York City, New York state, Louisiana, Colorado and New Jersey, the CDC reports.
Nearly 3 million people have caught the flu already this season, according to agency estimates. An estimated 30,000 people have been hospitalized, and 1,200 died from flu so far this season.
Lab-confirmed flu hospitalization rates are higher now than they were at this time last year.
“It’s very difficult to predict a flu season, but right now we’re at the beginning of what we probably are going to see as a pretty severe influenza season driven primarily by this clade K virus,” Andrew Pekosz, a microbiology and immunology professor at Johns Hopkins University, told reporters during a briefing Tuesday.
The CDC recently reported the first death of a child from the flu this season.
Less than 40% of children have gotten a flu shot this year, according to CDC data. That’s lower than this time during the previous six seasons. Last flu season was the deadliest flu season for U.S. children in more than a decade, with 280 fatalities.
What to Know About the Subclade K
The new variant, subclade K, “is part of the natural variation process of seasonal influenza viruses,” according to PAHO.
In positive news, health authorities in the countries seeing the variant’s spread have not reported any increases in the severity of influenza cases.
But more people might be susceptible to infection because the variant “has mutations that are making it less able to be recognized by your body’s immune response,” according to Pekosz.
This year’s flu shot is a mismatch for the variant, as the shot was created before the strain was identified by researchers. But officials still recommend getting the shot since it appears to protect against severe infections.
“Although evidence on vaccine effectiveness for the current season remains limited, preliminary data from Europe indicate that vaccination continues to provide protection comparable to previous years against severe disease, including hospitalization,” PAHO said.
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How to Protect Yourself from the Flu
The CDC “recommends that everyone 6 months and older who has not yet been vaccinated this season get an annual influenza (flu) vaccine.”
Early estimates from the flu season in England found that hospitalizations remained in the expected ranges for children and adults, “suggesting that influenza vaccination remains an effective tool in preventing influenza-related hospitalizations this season,” according to the agency.
When the vaccine is a mismatch with the circulating strains, “vaccine effectiveness may be reduced but influenza vaccination continues to provide benefits, including: 1) protection against severe influenza illness, hospitalization, and death; 2) protection against other circulating influenza viruses represented in the influenza vaccines; and 3) help to reduce the overall community spread of influenza,” the CDC said.
The agency also recommends avoiding close contact with sick people, covering coughs and sneezes, washing hands and avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth.
Cases of influenza are starting to increase in North Texas, local doctors said, but aren’t above where we’d expect to be at this time of year.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Respiratory virus season has arrived in Fort Worth, and it’s infecting hundreds of North Texans with the common cold.
“The most prevalent virus that we’re seeing right now is still the common cold,” said Dr. Kara Starnes, medical director of Cook Children’s Urgent Care. The common cold is typically caused by rhinoviruses.
For the common cold, Starnes recommends the usual steps with dealing with respiratory viruses: Wash your hands often, cover your mouth when sneezing or coughing, and stay home when you’re sick.
While the common cold remains prevalent, cases of influenza are also starting to increase, said Dr. Brian Byrd, the director of Tarrant County Public Health.
“None of this is out of the expected increase,” Byrd said. “We’re tracking along right about where we normally do.”
Both Byrd and Starnes urged people to get their annual flu shots.
“We really want people to get a flu vaccine,” Starnes said. “The reason being, that prevents serious illness and hospitalization, especially for children.”
The good news, Byrd said, is that this year’s flu vaccine is formulated to protect against the predominant flu strain — influenza A (H3N2) — that is circulating. The bad news, he said, is that the virus has mutated since the vaccine was created. But, even with the mutation, the vaccine is still very effective for keeping people out of the hospital.
The number of children vaccinated against the flu has been steadily declining for the last several years, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of the end of November, only 38% of U.S. children between 6 months and 17 years were vaccinated, compared to 48% at the same time in 2019.
Byrd said it was too soon to predict how severe this year’s flu season will be, but Starnes cautioned that the U.K.’s rough flu season could spell trouble for the U.S. if travelers spread the flu locally during the holiday season.
Like the flu, RSV is also starting to increase, primarily in the pediatric population, Starnes and Byrd said. Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is a typically seasonal virus that is most worrisome in children under 5, and particularly in infants. It is the most common cause of pneumonia and inflammation of small airways in the lungs for infants, according to the CDC. There is an RSV vaccine available for adults age 75 and older and for pregnant women.
COVID-19 remains relatively quiet right now in North Texas.
Ciara McCarthy covers health and wellness as part of the Star-Telegram’s Crossroads Lab. She came to Fort Worth after three years in Victoria, Texas, where she worked at the Victoria Advocate. Ciara is focused on equipping people and communities with information they need to make decisions about their lives and well-being. Please reach out with your questions about public health or the health care system. Email cmccarthy@star-telegram.com or call or text 817-203-4391.
The United States may be heading into its second severe flu season in a row, driven by a mutated strain called subclade K that’s behind early surges in the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan.Last winter’s season was extreme, too. The U.S. had its highest rates of flu hospitalizations in nearly 15 years. At least 280 children died of influenza, the highest number since pediatric death numbers were required to be shared in 2004.Now, with a new variant in the mix, experts say we’re on track for a repeat. And with flu vaccinations down and holiday travel on the way, they worry that things may look much worse in the weeks ahead.The good news: Early analysis shows that this season’s flu shots offer some protection against being hospitalized with this variant, especially for kids. The bad news is that many Americans appear to be skipping their flu vaccines this year. New data from prescription data company IQVIA shows that vaccinations are down compared to where they usually are at this point in the year.A new playerFlu activity is low but rising quickly in the United States, according to the latest FluView report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Most of the flu viruses identified this season have been an A strain called H3N2, and half of those have come from subclade K, a variant that was responsible for a rougher-than-normal flu season this summer in the Southern Hemisphere.That variant wasn’t a major player when scientists decided which strains should be in the annual flu shots, so the vaccines cover a related but slightly different group of viruses.”It’s not like we’re expecting to get complete loss of protection for the vaccine, but perhaps we might expect a little bit of a drop-off if this is the virus that sort of dominates the season, and early indications are that’s probably going to be the case,” said Dr. Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for studies on the ecology of influenza in animals and birds at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.Early analysis by the U.K. Health Security Agency shows that subclade K has seven gene changes on a key segment of the virus. Those mutations change the shape of this region, making it harder for the body’s defenses to recognize.”That’s the predominant thing that our immune system targets with antibodies, and that’s also pretty much what’s in the vaccine,” said Dr. Adam Lauring, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan Medical School.UKHSA scientists found that the current flu vaccines are still providing decent protection against subclade K viruses. Vaccination cut the odds of an emergency department visit or hospitalization for the flu by almost 75% in children. The effectiveness for adults, even those over 65, was lower, about 30% to 40% against needing to visit the hospital or ER.But the scientists offer a caveat: These results are from early in the season, before the protection from seasonal flu vaccines has had time to wane or wear off. The findings are posted in a recent preprint study, which means it was published ahead of scrutiny from outside experts.Still, some protection is better than no protection, and while subclade K is expected to dominate the season, it won’t be the only flu strain circulating. No one gets to pick what they’re exposed to. Lauring said his daughter has just recovered from the flu, but it was a B-type strain.At the same time this new variant has emerged, flu vaccinations appear to be down in the U.S. According to IQVIA, about 64% of all flu vaccinations were administered at retail pharmacies, which administered roughly 26.5 million flu shots between August and the end of October. That’s more than 2 million fewer shots than the 28.7 million given over the same time frame in 2024.”I’m not surprised,” said Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, who directs the Pandemic Center at Brown University’s School of Public Health. Vaccine skepticism expressed by leaders of the US Department of Health and Human Services has “injected chaos into the whole vaccination system,” she said.”There’s been a lot of attention on really non-issues,” like vaccine ingredients and separating shots, that she thinks “at the best, left people confused but possibly at the worst have left people worried about getting vaccinated,” she added.Flu vaccinations have also fallen in Australia, where subclade K was the predominant virus this year. As a result, flu hit a record, with more than 443,000 cases. Flu season in the Southern Hemisphere typically runs from May to July, so infectious disease experts often look to those countries for a preview of what might be on the way to North America.”What they saw in Australia is that they had a bad season. And so it’s concerning for you and us, what’s coming,” said Dr. Earl Rubin, director of the infectious disease division at the Montreal Children’s Hospital in Canada.’This is the time we start to see the rise’It’s difficult to say whether subclade K actually makes a person sicker than other flu strains, but if it drives more cases, it will certainly drive hospitalizations too, Rubin said.”When you look at severity, the more cases you have, if the same percentage get hospitalized, obviously you’re going to have more hospitalization if you have more cases. So it sometimes will look like the severity is also worse,” he said.Lab testing data has begun to show an uptick in flu cases.”This is the time we start to see the rise,” said Dr. Allison McMullen, a clinical microbiologist at BioMerieux, which makes the BioFire test, a popular diagnostic tool for respiratory pathogens.The company anonymously compiles its test results into a syndromic surveillance tool, which can offer a glimpse of what bugs are making people sick at any given time. At the beginning of the month, less than 1% of tests were positive for type A flu. Now it’s 2.4% – still low numbers but going up briskly, which aligns with the CDC trend.”We’re going to start seeing heavy holiday travel before we know it,” McMullen added. “With the rising cases that we’re seeing the U.K. and Japan, it can definitely be a bellwether for what we’re going to see in North America.”Signals are also rising in wastewater, said Dr. Marlene Wolfe, an assistant professor of environmental health at Emory University. In October, 18% of samples in the WastewaterSCAN network — an academically led wastewater monitoring program based at Stanford University, in partnership with Emory — were positive for type A flu, Wolfe said. In November, that number had risen to 40%.”Flu is something where, when it’s not in season, we don’t detect it very frequently in wastewater,” Wolfe said. COVID, on the other hand, can be detected pretty much all the time, which makes it challenging to know if it’s going up or down, she said.The scientists can set a threshold for when they can declare that a specific area is in flu season, Wolfe says. So far, just four of the 147 sites they monitor in 40 states have reached that threshold. Those sites are in the Northeast — in Maine and Vermont — in Iowa and in Hawaii.”I am concerned, I guess, that we could have a big flu season this year based on what we’re seeing in other parts of the world, and particularly Europe and elsewhere,” Michigan’s Lauring said.”It’s not too late. Go and get your flu shot,” Lauring advised. “And be alert that it’s out there.”
The United States may be heading into its second severe flu season in a row, driven by a mutated strain called subclade K that’s behind early surges in the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan.
Last winter’s season was extreme, too.The U.S. had its highest rates of flu hospitalizations in nearly 15 years. At least 280 children died of influenza, the highest number since pediatric death numbers were required to be shared in 2004.
Now, with a new variant in the mix, experts say we’re on track for a repeat. And with flu vaccinations down and holiday travel on the way, they worry that things may look much worse in the weeks ahead.
The good news: Early analysis shows that this season’s flu shots offer some protection against being hospitalized with this variant, especially for kids. The bad news is that many Americans appear to be skipping their flu vaccines this year. New data from prescription data company IQVIA shows that vaccinations are down compared to where they usually are at this point in the year.
A new player
Flu activity is low but rising quickly in the United States, according to the latest FluView report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most of the flu viruses identified this season have been an A strain called H3N2, and half of those have come from subclade K, a variant that was responsible for a rougher-than-normal flu season this summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
That variant wasn’t a major player when scientists decided which strains should be in the annual flu shots, so the vaccines cover a related but slightly different group of viruses.
“It’s not like we’re expecting to get complete loss of protection for the vaccine, but perhaps we might expect a little bit of a drop-off if this is the virus that sort of dominates the season, and early indications are that’s probably going to be the case,” said Dr. Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for studies on the ecology of influenza in animals and birds at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Early analysis by the U.K. Health Security Agency shows that subclade K has seven gene changes on a key segment of the virus. Those mutations change the shape of this region, making it harder for the body’s defenses to recognize.
“That’s thepredominant thing that our immune system targets with antibodies, and that’s also pretty much what’s in the vaccine,” said Dr. Adam Lauring, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan Medical School.
UKHSA scientists found that the current flu vaccines are still providing decent protection against subclade K viruses. Vaccination cut the odds of an emergency department visit or hospitalizationfor the flu by almost 75% in children. The effectiveness for adults, even those over 65, was lower, about 30% to 40% against needing to visit the hospital or ER.
But the scientists offer a caveat: These results are from early in the season, before the protection from seasonal flu vaccines has had time to wane or wear off. The findings are posted in a recent preprint study, which means it was published ahead of scrutiny from outside experts.
Still, some protection is better than no protection, and while subclade K is expected to dominate the season, it won’t be the only flu strain circulating. No one gets to pick what they’re exposed to. Lauring said his daughter has just recovered from the flu, but it was a B-type strain.
At the same time this new variant has emerged, flu vaccinations appear to be down in the U.S. According to IQVIA, about 64% of all flu vaccinations were administered at retail pharmacies, which administered roughly 26.5 million flu shots betweenAugust and the end of October. That’s more than 2 million fewer shots than the 28.7 million given over the same time frame in 2024.
“I’m not surprised,” said Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, who directs the Pandemic Center at Brown University’s School of Public Health. Vaccine skepticism expressed by leaders of the US Department of Health and Human Services has “injected chaos into the whole vaccination system,” she said.
“There’s been a lot of attention on really non-issues,” like vaccine ingredients and separating shots, that she thinks “at the best, left people confused but possibly at the worst have left people worried about getting vaccinated,” she added.
Flu vaccinations have also fallen in Australia, where subclade K was the predominant virusthis year. As a result, flu hit a record, with more than 443,000 cases. Flu season in the Southern Hemisphere typically runs from May to July, so infectious disease experts often look to those countries for a preview of what might be on the way to North America.
“What they saw in Australia is that they had a bad season. And so it’s concerning for you and us, what’s coming,” said Dr. Earl Rubin, director of the infectious disease division at the Montreal Children’s Hospital in Canada.
‘This is the time we start to see the rise’
It’s difficult to say whether subclade K actually makes a person sicker than other flu strains, but if it drives more cases, it will certainly drive hospitalizations too, Rubin said.
“When you look at severity, the more cases you have, if the same percentage get hospitalized, obviously you’re going to have more hospitalization if you have more cases. So it sometimes will look likethe severity is also worse,” he said.
Lab testing data has begun to show an uptick in flu cases.
“This is the time we start to see the rise,” said Dr. Allison McMullen, a clinical microbiologist at BioMerieux, which makes the BioFire test, a popular diagnostic tool for respiratory pathogens.
The company anonymously compiles its test results into a syndromic surveillance tool, which can offer a glimpse of what bugs are making people sick at any given time. At the beginning of the month, less than 1% of tests were positive for type A flu. Now it’s 2.4% – still low numbers but going up briskly, which aligns with the CDC trend.
“We’re going to start seeing heavy holiday travel before we know it,” McMullen added. “With the rising cases that we’re seeing the U.K. and Japan, it can definitely be a bellwether for what we’re going to see in North America.”
Signals are also rising in wastewater, said Dr. Marlene Wolfe, an assistant professor of environmental health at Emory University. In October, 18% of samples in the WastewaterSCAN network — an academically led wastewater monitoring program based at Stanford University, in partnership with Emory — were positive for type A flu, Wolfe said. In November, that number had risen to 40%.
“Flu is something where, when it’s not in season, we don’t detect it very frequently in wastewater,” Wolfe said. COVID, on the other hand, can be detected pretty much all the time, which makes it challenging to know if it’s going up or down, she said.
The scientists can set a threshold for when they can declare that a specific area is in flu season, Wolfe says. So far, just four of the 147 sites they monitor in 40 states have reached that threshold. Those sites are in the Northeast — in Maine and Vermont — in Iowa and in Hawaii.
“I am concerned, I guess, that we could have a big flu season this year based on what we’re seeing in other parts of the world, and particularly Europe and elsewhere,” Michigan’s Lauring said.
“It’s not too late. Go and get your flu shot,” Lauring advised. “And be alert that it’s out there.”
(CNN) — The United States may be heading into its second severe flu season in a row, driven by a mutated strain called subclade K that’s behind early surges in the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan.
Last winter’s season was extreme, too.The US had its highest rates of flu hospitalizations in nearly 15 years. At least 280 children died of influenza, the highest number since pediatric death numbers were required to be shared in 2004.
Now, with a new variant in the mix, experts say we’re on track for a repeat. And with flu vaccinations down and holiday travel on the way, they worry that things may look much worse in the weeks ahead.
The good news: Early analysis shows that this season’s flu shots offer some protection against being hospitalized with this variant, especially for kids. The bad news is that many Americans appear to be skipping their flu vaccines this year. New data from prescription data company IQVIA shows that vaccinations are down compared to where they usually are at this point in the year.
A new player
Flu activity is low but rising quickly in the United States, according to the latest FluView report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most of the flu viruses identified this season have been an A strain called H3N2, and half of those have come from subclade K, a variant that was responsible for a rougher-than-normal flu season this summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
That variant wasn’t a major player when scientists decided which strains should be in the annual flu shots, so the vaccines cover a related but slightly different group of viruses.
“It’s not like we’re expecting to get complete loss of protection for the vaccine, but perhaps we might expect a little bit of a drop-off if this is the virus that sort of dominates the season, and early indications are that’s probably going to be the case,” said Dr. Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for studies on the ecology of influenza in animals and birds at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Early analysis by the UK Health Security Agency shows that subclade K has seven gene changes on a key segment of the virus. Those mutations change the shape of this region, making it harder for the body’s defenses to recognize.
“That’s thepredominant thing that our immune system targets with antibodies, and that’s also pretty much what’s in the vaccine,” said Dr. Adam Lauring, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan Medical School.
UKHSA scientists found that the current flu vaccines are still providing decent protection against subclade K viruses. Vaccination cut the odds of an emergency department visit or hospitalizationfor the flu by almost 75% in children. The effectiveness for adults, even those over 65, was lower, about 30% to 40% against needing to visit the hospital or ER.
But the scientists offer a caveat: These results are from early in the season, before the protection from seasonal flu vaccines has had time to wane or wear off. The findings are posted in a recent preprint study, which means it was published ahead of scrutiny from outside experts.
Still, some protection is better than no protection, and while subclade K is expected to dominate the season, it won’t be the only flu strain circulating. No one gets to pick what they’re exposed to. Lauring said his daughter has just recovered from the flu, but it was a B-type strain.
At the same time this new variant has emerged, flu vaccinations appear to be down in the US. According to IQVIA, about 64% of all flu vaccinations were administered at retail pharmacies, which administered roughly 26.5 million flu shots betweenAugust and the end of October. That’s more than 2 million fewer shots than the 28.7 million given over the same time frame in 2024.
“I’m not surprised,” said Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, who directs the Pandemic Center at Brown University’s School of Public Health. Vaccine skepticism expressed by leaders of the US Department of Health and Human Services has “injected chaos into the whole vaccination system,” she said.
“There’s been a lot of attention on really non-issues,” like vaccine ingredients and separating shots, that “I think, at the best, left people confused but possibly at the worst have left people worried about getting vaccinated,” she added.
Flu vaccinations have also fallen in Australia, where subclade K was the predominant virusthis year. As a result, flu hit a record, with more than 443,000 cases. Flu season in the Southern Hemisphere typically runs from May to July, so infectious disease experts often look to those countries for a preview of what might be on the way to North America.
“What they saw in Australia is that they had a bad season. And so it’s concerning for you and us, what’s coming,” said Dr. Earl Rubin, director of the infectious disease division at the Montreal Children’s Hospital in Canada.
‘This is the time we start to see the rise’
It’s difficult to say whether subclade K actually makes a person sicker than other flu strains, but if it drives more cases, it will certainly drive hospitalizations too, Rubin said.
“When you look at severity, the more cases you have, if the same percentage get hospitalized, obviously you’re going to have more hospitalization if you have more cases. So it sometimes will look likethe severity is also worse,” he said.
Lab testing data has begun to show an uptick in flu cases.
“This is the time we start to see the rise,” said Dr. Allison McMullen, a clinical microbiologist at BioMerieux, which makes the BioFire test, a popular diagnostic tool for respiratory pathogens.
The company anonymously compiles its test results into a syndromic surveillance tool, which can offer a glimpse of what bugs are making people sick at any given time. At the beginning of the month, less than 1% of tests were positive for type A flu. Now it’s 2.4% – still low numbers but going up briskly, which aligns with the CDC trend.
“We’re going to start seeing heavy holiday travel before we know it,” McMullen added. “With the rising cases that we’re seeing the UK and Japan, it can definitely be a bellwether for what we’re going to see in North America.”
Signals are also rising in wastewater, said Dr. Marlene Wolfe, an assistant professor of environmental health at Emory University. In October, 18% of samples in the WastewaterSCAN network – an academically led wastewater monitoring program based at Stanford University, in partnership with Emory – were positive for type A flu, Wolfe said. In November, that number had risen to 40%.
“Flu is something where, when it’s not in season, we don’t detect it very frequently in wastewater,” Wolfe said. Covid, on the other hand, can be detected pretty much all the time, which makes it challenging to know if it’s going up or down, she said.
The scientists can set a threshold for when they can declare that a specific area is in flu season, Wolfe says. So far, just four of the 147 sites they monitor in 40 states have reached that threshold. Those sites are in the Northeast – in Maine and Vermont – in Iowa and in Hawaii.
“I am concerned, I guess, that we could have a big flu season this year based on what we’re seeing in other parts of the world, and particularly Europe and elsewhere,” Michigan’s Lauring said.
“It’s not too late. Go and get your flu shot,” Lauring advised. “And be alert that it’s out there.”
As the fall respiratory season approaches and differing recommendations for children’s COVID-19 and flu shots cause confusion, who should be getting vaccinated to protect against illness?
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, voted to change recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The ACIP’s recommendations are not the final say — they must be reviewed and approved by the CDC director to become official guidance. But CDC directors have almost always accepted the recommendations.
Here’s where recommendations currently stand.
Flu shots
Guidance on the flu shot for kids is consistent across top medical groups: Children 6 months and older are generally advised to get the shot.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also recommends that everyone 6 months and older without medical contradictions get vaccinated.
For pregnant women, flu shots — specifically the injection, not the nasal spray — are also recommended by both the CDC and AAP.
Protecting kids from the flu is important because infections can lead to hospitalizations and sometimes be deadly, the CDC says. During the 2023-24 flu season, for example, the CDC reportednearly 200 flu-related deaths among children in the U.S. Most of them were eligible for a vaccine but were not fully vaccinated, the CDC said.
For the COVID-19 vaccine, advice currently varies.
The CDC says parents of healthy children ages 6 months to 17 years old should discuss the benefits with a health care provider and “may receive” it, but the agency stops short of recommending the shot. The agency broadly recommends COVID-19 vaccines for moderately or severely immunocompromised children.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, however, recently shared vaccine recommendations that, for the first time in three decades, differ from U.S. government advice. In the guidance, the AAP is “strongly recommending” COVID-19 shots for children ages 6 months to 2 years old. For older children, shots are also advised but it’s up to parents’ discretion, the AAP said.
Other top medical groups have also shared recommendations differing from the CDC’s advice.
For example, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, a medical association representing physicians and scientists who specialize in infectious diseases, recommends the COVID-19 vaccine for everyone ages 6 months and older.
And a group of four West Coast states has joined together to issue recommendations on COVID-19 shots and other vaccines that differ from CDC guidance. The West Coast Health Alliance recommends the COVID vaccine for all children 6 months to 23 months old and those 2 to 18 years old with risk factors or who have never been vaccinated.
The announcement was made last week in a joint statement from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, all Democrats, saying they were putting safety before politics.
“Every resident will have access to the COVID vaccine, no exceptions,” Hochul said in a statement, which advises vaccinations for children 6 months to 18 years old.
CDC advisory panel’s proposed COVID changes
The CDC’s advisory committee, the ACIP, has undergone changes in recent months, with all new memberspicked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is known for raising doubts about vaccines.
In their latest meeting, the ACIP voted for people to make individual, informed decisions about COVID vaccination, and it declined to specifically recommend COVID vaccination. This is a change from current guidance, since it drops recommendations for even children at high risk.
The updated recommendations, which are not yet considered official but are expected to be soon, would include the following for children:
Individuals 6 months to 64 years: Vaccination based on individual-based decision-making — with an emphasis that the risk-benefit of vaccination is most favorable for individuals who are at an increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease and lowest for individuals who are not at an increased risk, according to the CDC list of COVID-19 risk factors.
Dr. Paul Offit — a vaccine researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a former government adviser who has sparred with Kennedy for years — said that with this proposed change, “the good news is anyone can get the vaccine.” But “the bad news is that no one is encouraged to get it even if you’re in a high-risk group,” he recently told The Associated Press.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said he expects confusion around the COVID vaccine due to the panel’s recent vote.
“What I think it means is that people are going to be uncertain whether or not the COVID-19 vaccine is a benefit to them,” he told CBS News on Friday.
Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, says there’s “a lot of noise out there” when it comes to vaccines, but advises parents to “stick the course” and talk to your doctor about making sure children get all their necessary vaccinations.
Sara Moniuszko is a health and lifestyle reporter at CBSNews.com. Previously, she wrote for USA Today, where she was selected to help launch the newspaper’s wellness vertical. She now covers breaking and trending news for CBS News’ HealthWatch.
The Centers for Disease Control is recommending flu shots for everyone 6 months and older as flu season approaches.
The Centers for Disease Control is recommending flu shots for everyone 6 months and older as flu season approaches.
According to the CDC, the 2025-26 fall and winter season for illnesses like influenza, RSV and COVID-19 starts in October and runs through mid-May.
Dr. Kisha Davis, the Montgomery County Health Officer, explains that the benefit of getting a flu shot is twofold: “So there’s the benefit to the individual, of decreasing the chance of getting the flu. … There’s also the benefit to the community. So when more people are vaccinated, it’s harder for that virus or illness or whatever the vaccine is for, to jump to other people.”
“That’s why we encourage folks to get the flu vaccine, both to help themselves, but also to help community spread,” Davis added.
She said that’s especially important for older citizens, immunocompromised people and infants who are too young to vaccinate.
Florida recently elected to eliminate all childhood vaccine mandates, making it the first state to do so.
“I will say that it’s concerning to see what Florida is doing in terms of rolling back vaccine mandates,” Davis said.
Noting the high rates of vaccination among residents in the District, Maryland and Virginia, she said, “I do not anticipate that there will be a rollback because of the evidence we have seen” on the effectiveness of vaccine mandates.
Davis said measles cases provide a good example of the protections of vaccine mandates.
“In Maryland, we have a vaccine mandate that kids who are going to school need to have that vaccine,” she said.
When there have been isolated cases of measles, mostly from people who have traveled abroad, “it hasn’t spread and that’s because the vaccine rates are so high in this area. And so we know that those mandates work,” she said.
Asked about coverage for the different vaccines for respiratory illnesses, Davis said, “For flu vaccine, we feel pretty comfortable that insurance companies will continue to cover it,”
But when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines, “the question is around the COVID vaccine and other vaccines where we haven’t gotten that clear guidance from (the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) what insurers will do in terms of coverage,” Davis said.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet on Sept. 18.
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How effective are flu shots, elderberries, echinacea, and cranberries?
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone over the age of six months get a routine flu shot every year, unless you have some sort of contraindication, such as an allergy to any of the vaccine’s components. CDC recommends getting vaccinated by the end of October, but it may even be beneficial when received in December or later. How effective are flu vaccines? It depends on the year, but, as you can see below and at 0:33 in my video Friday Favorites: Elderberry Benefits and Side Effects: Does It Help with Colds and the Flu?, the flu vaccine typically reduces the risk of getting the flu by about 40 to 50 percent.
So, in healthy adults, we can say with moderate certainty that we can decrease our risk of influenza from about 2 percent each year down to just under 1 percent. Older adults may get a similar relative risk reduction, but the baseline risk is higher and the consequences greater, so the absolute benefits are greater, too. In kids, flu vaccines shine; there’s a high certainty of evidence of a substantial drop in risk. But even in this kind of best-case scenario, there’s still a risk with vaccination, so what else can we do?
In the United States alone, each year, Americans experience millions of cases of influenza and hundreds of millions of colds. What about elderberry supplements? In a test tube, elderberry extracts can inhibit pathogens, including the flu virus. In a petri dish, it can rev up the production of flu-fighting molecules from human immune system cells, like tumor necrosis factor, as much as nearly 45-fold. Elderberry juice can help mice fight off the flu. But what about actual people?
The first clinical trial was published back in the 1990s: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to treat flu-like symptoms. Researchers found that the odds for improvement before the fifth day in those in the treated group were more than 20 times the odds of the participants in the control group (p < 0.001). Two subsequent double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials showed similar accelerated healing in the elderberry groups, as you can see here and at 1:54 in my video.
I was excited to see this study—“Elderberry Supplementation Reduces Cold Duration and Symptoms in Air-Travelers”—given a 200-city book tour I was embarking on. It was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 312 economy class passengers. While taking elderberry didn’t seem to prevent people from coming down with cold symptoms, the duration and severity of symptoms in those who did get a cold seemed to have been lessened, and they suffered an average of about five days instead of seven.
A similar study using the herb echinacea found a lessening of symptom scores, but it was of only borderline statistical significance. Nevertheless, even though most of the individual trials didn’t find statistically significant improvements, when all such studies were compiled, it seems there may be about a 20 percent decrease incidence of colds, as seen below and at 2:50 in my video.
Note, though, that there is a concern about publication bias and selective reporting. A number of findings and some entire studies seem to be MIA, suggesting that negative studies may have been quietly shelved. So, we aren’t really sure about echinacea, but all the elderberry studies seem to have positive results, suggesting elderberry supplementation “provides an effective treatment option when advanced or more invasive care [more serious treatment] is not warranted.” This conclusion came from someone with apparent conflicts of interest, though. In fact, each of the four elderberry studies was funded by the elderberry product companies themselves.
Any other berries that might be helpful? A randomized, placebo-controlled, interventional study—funded, predictably, by Ocean Spray—found that the gamma-delta-T-cells of those drinking a low-calorie cranberry juice beverage for ten weeks appeared to be proliferating at nearly fivefold the rate. These immune cells “serve as a first line of defense.” Though the study participants didn’t get fewer colds, they did seem to suffer less, but not enough to prevent days missed from work or an impairment of their activities, as shown here and at 3:56 in my video.
At least cranberries have never been reported to cause pancreatitis. A man taking an elderberry extract not only suffered an attack of acute pancreatitis, a sudden painful inflammation of the pancreas, but it went away when he stopped it, then reappeared again years later when he tried taking it again, which suggests cause-and-effect. Why take elderberry extracts when you can just eat the elderberries themselves? Well, cooked are fine, but “consuming uncooked blue or black elderberries can cause nausea and vomiting.”
I found out the hard way, as I explained in an answer to the question, “What was the worst day of your life?” in my London Real interview on my How Not to Die book tour. It turns out elderberry fruits form cyanide, such that eight people had to be medevacked out after someone brought freshly squeezed elderberry juice to a gathering.
Medically important antibiotics are being squandered by animal agriculture to compensate for typical factory farming practices.
Cultivating muscle meat directly from cells instead of raising and slaughtering animals would reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses “due to fecal contamination during slaughtering and evisceration of carcasses” because there would be no feces, no slaughter, and no carcasses to eviscerate. In addition, cultivating meat would also reduce the threat from antibiotic resistance.
To compensate for overcrowded, stressful, and unhygienic conditions on factory farms, animals are typically dosed en masse with antibiotics. A lot of antibiotics. About 20 million pounds of medically important antibiotics a year, as you can see here and at 0:57 in my video, The Human Health Effects of Cultivated Meat: Antibiotic Resistance.
In the United States, for example, farm animals are given about 2 million pounds of penicillin drugs and 15 million pounds of tetracyclines annually. This is madness.
Antibiotic drugs important to human medicine go right into the feed and water of animals like cows, pigs, and chickens, by the ton and by the thousands of tons, as shown below and at 1:02 in my video. And that is all without a prescription.
Ninety-seven percent of the tens of millions of pounds of antibiotics given to farm animals in the United States are bought over the counter—without a prescription or even an order from a veterinarian, as seen here and a 1:24. To get even a few milligrams of penicillin, we need a doctor’s prescription, because these are miracle wonder drugs that can’t be squandered. Meanwhile, farmers can just back their trucks up to the feedstore.
Now, half the Salmonella in retail meat—chicken, turkey, beef, and pork—is resistant to tetracycline, as shown below and at 1:50 in my video. About a quarter of the bugs are now resistant to three or more entire classes of antibiotics, including some resistant to “cephalosporins such as ceftriaxone [which] are critically important drugs we use to treat severe Salmonella infections, especially in children.”
Such agricultural applications for antimicrobials are now considered an “urgent threat to human health.” “The link between antibiotic use in animals and antibiotic resistance in humans is unequivocal.”
As shown here and at 2:20 in my video, it all starts with the poop.
Antibiotic-resistant bugs are selected for and then can spread via meat or produce contaminated by poop or they can spread through the wind, the air, or the water, or be carried by insects. There are many pathways by which resistant superbugs can escape. So, even if you don’t eat meat, you can be “put at risk by the pathogens released from stressed, immunocompromised, contaminant-filled livestock” dosed with antibiotics. That’s one of the reasons the American Public Health Association called for a moratorium on factory farms, due in part to all the pollution from concentrated animal feed operations (CAFOs) to the surrounding communities.
Every year, more than five tons of animal manure are produced for every man, woman, and child in the United States. Again, it all starts with the poop. But cultivated meat means no guts, no poop, no fecal infections, and no antibiotics necessary. It also means no fecal or antibiotic residues left in “foodstuffs such as milk, egg, and meat” that can potentially cause a variety of side effects beyond just the transfer of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to humans.
And, as you can see here and at 3:30 in my video, things are getting worse, not better. U.S. animal agriculture is using more antibiotics now than ever.
This isn’t only because more animals are being raised for food, either. Antibiotic sales in the United States are outpacing meat production. Yes, meat production is going up, but there is a serious rise in antibiotic sales for meat production, as shown below and at 3:46.
With the combined might of Big Ag and Big Pharma (who profit from selling all the drugs), it’s hard to imagine anything changing on the political side. The only hope may be a change in the production side.
“The unstoppable rise of super-resistant strains of bacteria is a serious worldwide problem, resulting in 700 000 deaths every year,” and the projections for global antibiotic use in the production of farm animals are “ominous,” estimated to exceed 100,000 tons of antibiotics pumped into animals raised for food by 2030. Quite simply, we may be “on the path to untreatable infections” by using even some of our “last resort antibiotics,” like carbapenems, just to shave a few cents off a pound of meat.
And it’s not just foodborne bacteria. Mad cow disease, swine flu, and bird flu have the potential to kill millions of people. Skeptical? I’ve got a book for you to read, whose author’s “superb storytelling ability makes every page of the book interesting and fascinating for both specialist and layperson.” (Thanks, Virology Journal, for the wonderful book review and calling my book “a must read.”)
Given the threat of the chickens coming home to roost, an editorial in the American Journal of Public Health thought that “it is curious, therefore, that changing the way humans treat animals—most basically, ceasing to eat them or, at the very least, radically limiting the quantity of them that are eaten—is largely off the radar as a significant preventative measure. Such a change, if sufficiently adopted or imposed, could still reduce the chances of the much-feared influenza epidemic…Yet humanity does not consider this option.”
That may be moot, though, because we could cultivate all the chicken we want, without guts or lungs.
It’s hard to stress the importance of that American Journal of Public Health editorial. As devastating as COVID-19 has been, it may just be a dress rehearsal for an even greater threat waiting in the wings—the wings of chickens.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading candidate for the next pandemic is a bird flu virus known as H7N9, which is a hundred times deadlier than COVID-19. Instead of 1 in 250 patients dying, H7N9 has killed 40 percent of the people it infects.
The last time a bird flu virus jumped directly to humans and caused a pandemic, it triggered the deadliest plague in human history—the 1918 pandemic that killed 50 million people. That had a 2 percent death rate. What if we had a pandemic infecting billions where death was closer to a flip of a coin?
The good news is that there is something we can do about it. Just as eliminating the exotic animal trade and live animal markets may go a long way toward preventing the next coronavirus pandemic, reforming the way we raise domestic animals for food may help forestall the next killer flu. The bottom line is that it’s not worth risking the lives of millions of people for the sake of cheaper chicken.
Stay ahead this flu season: California health experts urge timely vaccinations
The ideal time for the flu vaccine is before the end of October.
Updated: 1:26 PM PDT Oct 20, 2024
EXPERTS ON WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW. CIRCULATING EVERY YEAR. A NASTY VIRUS FOR SOME AND DEADLY FOR OTHERS. INFLUENZA BEGINNING TO MAKE ITS ROUNDS. TYPICALLY, THE FLU STARTS IN THE FALL AND CAN ABSOLUTELY GO ALL THROUGH THE WINTER INTO THE SPRING AND SOMETIMES WE’VE SEEN INFLUENZA LAST ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO MAY. SPEAKING TO DOCTOR VANESSA WALKER, SHE SAYS RIGHT NOW WE’RE STILL BEATING THE CURVE. WE’RE NOT REALLY SEEING MUCH FLU AT ALL YET IN THE HOSPITALS OR OUT IN THE COMMUNITY. IT’S STILL AT VERY LOW LEVELS RIGHT NOW, WHICH LEADS TO THE FACT THAT WE ARE IN THE PERFECT WINDOW OF TIME TO GET THE VACCINE. I USUALLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU IF YOU’RE GOING TO GET THE FLU VACCINE, THAT YOU SHOULD PROBABLY GET IT BEFORE THE END OF OCTOBER. THAT’S WHEN YOU’RE GOING TO GET IT. IT TAKES A COUPLE WEEKS FOR IT TO REALLY GET TO FULL EFFICACY FOR YOUR BODY TO MAKE ALL THOSE FLU ANTIBODIES, TO REALLY PROTECT YOU. GETTING THE VACCINE NOW ENSURES YOU’RE COVERED THROUGH PEAK FLU SEASON, WHICH TYPICALLY LANDS NEAR THE HOLIDAYS. GETTING IT TOWARDS THE END OF OCTOBER SHOULD START COVERING YOU WHEN WE START TO SEE MORE FLU CASES IN THE FALL, AND THEN WE’LL DEFINITELY BE IN FULL SWING TO PROTECT YOU WHEN WE SEE AN EXPECTED SPIKE IN DECEMBER OR JANUARY. ACCORDING TO THE CDC, 148 MILLION DOSES OF THE FLU VACCINE ARE IN SUPPLY. THIS SEASON, WITH MANY THAT ARE STEERING AWAY FROM FORMULAS THAT CONTAIN PRESERVATIVES. THE CDC, REMINDING THE PUBLIC CO-INFECTIONS, MEANING GETTING SEVERAL ILLNESSES ALL AT ONCE, IS NOT AN IMPOSSIBILITY, AND THE AID OF A VACCINATION HELPS ALLEVIATE HOW ILL THAT PERSON COULD BECOME. INFLUENZA VACCINE SAVE SO MANY LIVES THEY DECREASE THE RATE OF HOSPITALIZATIONS AND THEY DECREASE THE SEVERITY OF THE INFLUENZA VIRUS. LASTLY, A QUICK EXPLANATION AS TO WHY YOU CAN FEEL ACHY OR ILL AFTER GETTING THE SHOT. ANYTIME WE GET EITHER A VACCINE OR A VIRUS, OUR BODY IS GOING TO RESPOND VERY SIMILARLY TO TO TRY TO GET RID OF WHATEVER IS COMING IN THE BODY. SO THAT MAKES US HAVE MUSCLE ACHES. SOMETIMES YOU MIGHT GET A FEVER, YOU JUST MIGHT FEEL GENERALLY TIRED. THAT IS THE IMMUNE SYSTEM ACTIVATING AND DOING ITS JOB. BOTTOM LINE, DOCTORS SAY IT’S NEVER TOO LATE FOR THE FLU VACCINE, BUT FOR NEAR PERFECT TIMING FOR PEAK SEASON. NOW, IS YOUR SHOT IN SACRAMENTO ERIN HEFT KCRA THREE NEWS. AND WITH INSURANCE, THE VACCINE WILL LIKELY BE FREE OF CHARGE AND EVEN WITHOUT INSURANCE, THER
Stay ahead this flu season: California health experts urge timely vaccinations
The ideal time for the flu vaccine is before the end of October.
Updated: 1:26 PM PDT Oct 20, 2024
As the cold weather sets in, flu season is expected to ramp up across the country.Experts, including Dr. Vanessa Walker, emphasize the importance of taking precautions now. “We’re not really seeing much flu at all yet in the hospitals or out in the community, it’s still at very low levels right now,” she explained. The ideal time for the flu vaccine is before the end of October, allowing it to reach full efficacy before the holiday season, when influenza cases typically peak.The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has ensured an ample supply of 148 million flu vaccine doses this year, many of which don’t include preservatives. Although its never too late to get vaccinated for influenza, if the virus is circulating, acting promptly maximizes protection.Dr. Walker provides insight into post-vaccination symptoms like muscle aches and fatigue, highlighting them as normal immune responses. Watch in the video player aboveSee more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
As the cold weather sets in, flu season is expected to ramp up across the country.
Experts, including Dr. Vanessa Walker, emphasize the importance of taking precautions now.
“We’re not really seeing much flu at all yet in the hospitals or out in the community, it’s still at very low levels right now,” she explained.
The ideal time for the flu vaccine is before the end of October, allowing it to reach full efficacy before the holiday season, when influenza cases typically peak.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has ensured an ample supply of 148 million flu vaccine doses this year, many of which don’t include preservatives.
Although its never too late to get vaccinated for influenza, if the virus is circulating, acting promptly maximizes protection.
Dr. Walker provides insight into post-vaccination symptoms like muscle aches and fatigue, highlighting them as normal immune responses. Watch in the video player above
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a “self-administered” influenza vaccine that could be available by next year’s flu season. Dr. Roy Gulick, an infectious disease specialist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, joins CBS News with more.
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This year in the United States, 14 people have tested positive for avian influenza, or bird flu. Nine of those became infected after coming into contact with poultry, and four got the virus from exposure to dairy cows. The source of the remaining, most recent case remains a mystery.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the case on September 6. Initially detected by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, it is the first known case of human bird flu in the country with no known exposure to a sick or infected animal. On Thursday, health officials said they hadn’t determined how the person acquired the virus.
“Right now, evidence points to this being a one-off case,” said Nirav Shah, the CDC’s principal deputy director, during a news briefing.
Yet the case is troubling, because it raises the possibility of an alternate source of transmission, either from a person or an unknown source. Health officials say there is no evidence of person-to-person spread at this time. The CDC says its surveillance system has not picked up any unusual flu activity in the country, and the risk to the general public remains low.
“Our influenza surveillance system is designed to find needles in haystacks,” Shah said in the briefing. “In this case, we found such a needle, but we don’t know how it got there.”
The Missouri case is the first to be detected through the country’s national flu surveillance system as opposed to targeted testing of animals. This year, the H5N1 flu virus has been responsible for wiping out poultry flocks across the country and infecting 200 dairy herds in 14 states—the latest in California. It is increasingly spilling over to other mammals, including foxes, mice, raccoons, and domestic cats. With more animals harboring the virus, there is greater potential for human infection.
It’s not known whether that happened in the Missouri case, but it is one avenue health officials say they are investigating.
“Regardless of the source, it’s concerning, because it suggests that there’s a lot of the virus out there,” says David Boyd, a virologist at UC Santa Cruz who studies influenza. “This indicates that there is widespread transmission among animal sources.”
On August 22, an adult patient was hospitalized in Missouri for reasons related to underlying medical conditions and happened to also test positive for influenza. The patient’s specimen was then sent to the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory, which determined that it didn’t match the currently circulating seasonal flu viruses.
That triggered additional testing by the CDC, which last week confirmed it was a type of bird flu, or H5. The agency was conducting additional testing to determine the virus subtype—the “N” part of H5N1. On Thursday, health officials said the patient had a very low concentration of viral genetic material and, because of this, they have not been able to generate a full genome, including the N part of the virus. However, their data shows that the specimen is closely related to the H5 virus circulating in dairy cows.
.png "Cases of influenza are starting to increase in North Texas, local doctors said, but aren’t above where we’d expect to be at this time of year.")
