Influenza News

• Flu, RSV on Decline, but COVID Deaths Persist Respiratory illness levels in the US have declined so much in recent weeks that they are approaching numbers usually seen during non-flu season.
  WebMD Health News, January 30, 2023
• Fauci Q&A: On Masking, Vaccines, and What Keeps Him Up at Night In an interview, Fauci spoke to WebMD about his career and his plans for the future.
  WebMD Health News, January 30, 2023
• Long COVID Affecting More Than 33% of College Students, Faculty The median age of participants was 23 years. The study is unique for evaluating mostly healthy, young adults and for its rare look at long COVID in a university community.
  WebMD Health News, January 27, 2023
• Staffing Woes Set to Weigh on Hospital Operator's Profits Hospital operators in the U.S. are likely to see a dip in fourth-quarter profits as an ongoing staffing crunch limits their ability to take advantage of an early onset of the flu season and boost admissions.
  Reuters Health Information, January 26, 2023
• Three Teenagers With Influenza Die After Secondary Infection The deaths indicate an increase in serious diseases caused by secondary bacterial infections following an influenza A infection, according to the Robert Koch Institute.
  Medscape Medical News, January 27, 2023
• FDA Panel Backs Shift Toward One-Dose COVID Shot The FDA's vaccine advisers lent support to the agency's plan to try to simplify future COVID shots, with an aim of having many people get just one dose in the fall.
  Medscape Medical News, January 26, 2023
• Bulgaria to Cull 25,000 Quails to Contain Flu Outbreak Bulgaria will begin culling about 25,000 quails and destroy quail eggs on an industrial farm near the capital Sofia after detecting a highly infectious strain of bird flu, the food safety authorities said on Wednesday.
  Reuters Health Information, January 25, 2023
• The FDA Wants an Annual COVID Vaccine: What You Need to Know Is pivoting to an annual COVID-19 shot a smart move?
  WebMD Health News, January 25, 2023
• Q&A With Long COVID Patient, Researcher: Treatments Lagging The co-author of a new study on long COVID is also a long COVID patient. She shares her story as a patient and of her work to study its origins, what we know, and what we need to do.
  Medscape Medical News, January 25, 2023
• Flu, Other Common Viruses Linked to Neurologic Conditions Researchers found 22 links between viruses and common neurologic conditions often seen in older people.
  WebMD Health News, January 24, 2023
• FDA Wants Annual COVID Boosters, Just Like Annual Flu Shots US health officials want to simplify the recommended COVID-19 vaccine protocol.
  WebMD Health News, January 24, 2023
• 'Tripledemic' Cases Decline in US Hospitals 'We are seeing the normal busy, but not the very busy that I thought we would see,' said Juan Salazar, MD, physician in chief at Connecticut Children's in Hartford.
  WebMD Health News, January 23, 2023
• Mpox: Dermatology Registry Data Pinpoints Unique Signs The study analyzed 101 mpox cases from 13 countries reported last year to the American Academy of Dermatology/International League of Dermatologic Societies registry.
  MDedge News, January 23, 2023
• Japan to Consider Downgrading COVID-19 to Less Serious Infectious Disease Japan will consider revising COVID-19 measures as early as this spring, downgrading the disease to a less serious category and relaxing guidance that people wear masks in public indoor places, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday.
  Reuters Health Information, January 20, 2023
• How Does SARS-CoV-2 Affect Other Respiratory Diseases? Nonpharmacological measures have curbed the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and of other infectious agents as well.
  Medscape Medical News, January 20, 2023
• US Settlement Signals Protections for Addiction Medicine The US Department of Justice has used the Americans with Disabilities Act to settle a claim that an employee was discriminated against for taking a prescribed medication to treat drug addiction.
  Associated Press, January 20, 2023
• Walgreens Removes Purchase Limits on Children's Fever Medicines Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance said on Monday it has removed online-only purchase limits for its over-the-counter pediatric fever-reducing products, as supply conditions improve.
  Reuters Health Information, January 16, 2023
• UnitedHealth Staves Off Hit From 'Tripledemic' of Flu, COVID, RSV UnitedHealth Group Inc said on Friday the so-called "tripledemic" of respiratory diseases in the winter had not substantially driven up medical costs at its health insurance business in the 4th quarter.
  Reuters Health Information, January 13, 2023
• Pandemic May Strain Medical System for Winters to Come People with other serious illnesses may have trouble getting the care they need and will face long emergency room waits before admission.
  WebMD Health News, January 13, 2023
• COVID, RSV and the Flu: A Case of Viral Interference? The 'tripledemic' unfolding this winter is one of several odd trends among respiratory virus infections these last years. Viruses, it turns out, can block one another and take turns to dominate.
  Knowable Magazine, January 13, 2023