Latest news with #PaulPrince
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Intense Flu Surge Gripping The US Is The Worst in Years, CDC Says
The US is dealing with an unusually intense influenza outbreak that has infected between 29 and 51 million people and hospitalized up to 820,000 since October. It's one of the worst flu seasons in 15 years, and some scientists are blaming post-COVID 'vaccination fatigue' and misinformation for the sudden surge. Several years of non-stop debate around COVID-19 may have led to vaccine hesitancy or avoidance, compromising the public's intent to get vaccinated for other health issues. The influenza A virus (which is not one of the viruses responsible for the common cold) seems to be taking advantage of the current situation. According to the most recent estimates from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in just a single week this February, hospitals were flooded with more than 50,000 patients battling the highly contagious respiratory infection. The current flu season is now classified by the CDC as "high severity" – the first time this designation has been given since the 2017-2018 season. CDC spokesperson Paul Prince recently advised that anyone over six months of age who has not received the influenza vaccine this flu season "should get vaccinated immediately." Even this far into the flu season, experts say it's still worth both children and adults getting vaccinated to reduce community spread and to ensure their best chance of evading severe respiratory illness. Recent CDC estimates on the extent of the influenza outbreak are "preliminary, cumulative, and will increase as the season progresses," the agency warns. Already, deaths related to influenza (mostly influenza A) are far outpacing deaths related to COVID-19. In the week ending February 8, 2.6 percent of all deaths were due to the flu, including 68 pediatric deaths. The CDC map of respiratory cases in hospitals and doctors offices looks almost bruised with dark purple and red. These dark regions, seen in the image below, indicate very high levels of flu activity in outpatient clinics as of 8 February 2025. The only states in the green are Montana, Alaska, and Hawaii. Vermont has supplied insufficient data and is whited out on the map. It's unknown why influenza cases are suddenly spiking in the US, but it's probably due to several interrelated factors. This year's flu vaccine, for instance, may not be as effective at protecting against the virus as previous years. Vaccination rates have also been on a precipitous decline since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. In the 2023-24 season, flu vaccination rates in the US hit their lowest level in 12 years. At the beginning of the 2024-25 flu season, only 37 percent of children in the US had their flu vaccines, according to CDC data, down by 6 percent from the year before. And it's not just children who are being left unprotected. In November 2024, only about 35 percent of adults in the US said they had received a flu vaccine, although many planned on getting one later in the season. As of February, CDC data suggests most children and adults in the US have not received an annual influenza vaccine. Flu vaccines have been around for many decades, and contrary to online misinformation, they do not actually give a person the flu. The medicine works by triggering the body to develop antibodies against several different strains of influenza virus, which are constantly evolving as the virus spreads. Seasonal flu vaccines may not stop a person from contracting influenza altogether, but they can significantly decrease the severity of illness and lower the risk of complications, hospitalization, and death. Severe side effects from the flu vaccine, like Guillain-Barré Syndrome, are extremely rare, about one in a million. By contrast, the flu vaccine prevents tens of thousands of deaths each year in the US, and not just in those who get vaccinated. "Getting yourself vaccinated may also protect people around you, including those who are more vulnerable to serious flu illness, like babies and young children, older people, and people with certain chronic health conditions," reads the CDC website. A 2022 study found flu vaccinations reduced a child's risk of severe, life-threatening influenza by 75 percent. If the public is growing fatigued by vaccine messaging, it's crucial that health officials find new ways of communicating the health benefits of this medicine, especially for vaccines which require regular updates, like those for the flu or COVID-19. "Family physicians are uniquely qualified to counsel their patients," argue members of the American Academy of Family Physicians in response to CDC data. "By engaging in empathetic conversations, providing evidence-based information, and sharing personal testimonials, we can build trust and encourage more patients to get vaccinated against influenza." The most recent report on the 2024-2025 flu season can be found on the CDC website. Cars Make One Thing Even More Toxic Than Diesel Fumes, Study Reveals Exercise Boosts Cognition For People With ADHD, Study Reveals Misophonia Has Genetic Links to Anxiety And Depression, Study Finds
CBS News
12-02-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Flu deaths may have surpassed COVID deaths nationwide for first time since start of pandemic, early CDC data suggests
For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, more people in the U.S. died of influenza than from COVID-19 in the week ending on Jan. 25, according to weekly figures published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the week ending on Jan. 25, nearly 1.7% of all deaths nationwide were attributed to the flu, compared to roughly 1.5% being the result of COVID-19, according to CDC data. Rates of influenza hospitalizations are more than three times higher than COVID-19 hospitalizations amid this season's record wave of flu infections. Partial CDC data suggest that influenza deaths may have already reached as high as 2% of deaths for the week ending on Feb. 1, also surpassing COVID-19 mortality nationwide which was holding at around 1.5%. More complete data is expected to be published Friday. In 22 states, the rate of influenza deaths has been outpacing COVID-19 deaths throughout the first five weeks of 2025. The gap between flu and COVID-19 deaths is biggest in California, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and Wyoming, where the percentage of weekly deaths from flu are at least double those from COVID-19. Health officials track the percentage of weekly deaths as an early indicator of trends in flu and COVID-19 deaths, since it can take several weeks for all deaths to be confirmed and counted. The agency's modelers estimate that between 13,000 and 65,000 flu deaths have occurred so far this season, already above the range of influenza deaths for all of last season. That is also a higher range than the between 18,000 and 31,000 deaths from COVID-19 that the CDC estimates have happened so far this winter. This winter's COVID-19 wave has been smaller than previous waves of the virus, measured both in emergency rooms and hospitalizations. No new highly mutated variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 has emerged to drive a major surge of infections, unlike several previous waves, and rates of vaccinations have outpaced several previous seasons in older adults who are more vulnerable to severe disease. By contrast, the CDC has tracked influenza activity climbing to some of the highest rates seen since the peak of the swine flu pandemic in 2009. Levels are "very high" in 33 states and the District of Columbia, the CDC said on Friday. Influenza vaccinations have lagged in some age groups, CDC data suggests, especially in children. Less than 45% of children in the U.S. have gotten a flu shot, down from more than 58% at this time of year in 2020. "Foremost, anyone who has not been vaccinated for flu this season should get vaccinated immediately. Flu activity remains elevated and continues to increase across the country," CDC spokesperson Paul Prince said in a Feb. 10 statement. Several factors can impact flu activity in the U.S., he said, including which flu viruses are circulating and the immunity people have from prior infections and vaccinations. "While flu activity and flu season severity cannot be predicted and can vary from season to season, it is expected to see flu activity elevated and increasing at this time of the year," said Prince.
CBS News
11-02-2025
- Health
- CBS News
U.S. records most whooping cough deaths since 2017
The U.S. confirmed at least a dozen deaths from whooping cough last year, according to preliminary figures released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That marks the most fatalities from the bacterial infection since a 2017 surge of the illness, which is also known as pertussis. Over the last month, pertussis infections have been rising again. While cases reported to the CDC by health departments dipped over the winter holidays, weekly infections have accelerated for a month straight since then. At least 360 pertussis cases were reported nationwide in last week's update to the CDC's tally of infections. Cases are up 27% from the week before. Weekly cases peaked at 577 late last year, before plummeting to less than 200 over the New Year's holiday. Florida reported 44 cases last week, the most of any state. That displaces Ohio, which had been the state with the most pertussis infections for many recent weeks. Cases have been reported in counties throughout Florida, according to data from the state's health department, with the largest tallies around Miami and Tampa. Similar to other states, most cases reported in Florida have been in children under 5 years old. More than a third of whooping cough cases have been in older kids. "People of all ages are at risk for getting pertussis (whooping cough). Everyone who is not up to date with whooping cough vaccination should get vaccinated," CDC spokesperson Paul Prince said in a statement. Whooping cough can initially be difficult to separate from other cold-causing germs that surge over the colder months. Pertussis infections are called whooping cough because of the sound of severe coughing attacks, which can linger for weeks. Some people are at higher risk of life-threatening complications from whooping cough infections, including babies and people who are not up to date on their vaccines. Prince, the CDC spokesperson, said data on pertussis deaths for January 2025 was not available. Whooping cough deaths can take several weeks to be confirmed. A local health department earlier this month in Washington announced the first whooping cough death in the state since 2011. A 5-year-old had died in November 2024, but was only confirmed as a pertussis death by the CDC in recent weeks. The child had not completed the pertussis vaccine series, the Spokane Regional Health District said in a release, and also had "other health factors that contributed" to their death. "This death serves as a stark reminder of the importance of vaccination, especially for those who are most vulnerable, including infants and young children," Dr. Francisco Velazquez, the county's health officer, said in a statement. Officials have warned for months that the U.S. was likely on track to see a major wave in whooping cough cases. While infections usually climb every three to five years, pertussis was among many germs that were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other changes have also driven up pertussis cases in recent years, including a change in 2020 intended to cut down on missed cases by epidemiologists and waning immunity from pertussis vaccines. "We have been seeing some increase in pertussis cases that are coming through our emergency departments. Not necessarily requiring admission, but coming in for evaluation and treatment," said Dr. Marcos Mestre, chief clinical operations officer at Nicklaus Children's Health System in Miami. He said it had been many years since they had seen a major outbreak of pertussis infections, as opposed to "little pockets of increases" around their system. Mestre said older pertussis patients often come into the emergency room after facing a persistent cough that does not go away after a week or so. Younger babies come in to get evaluated sooner and are at higher risk. "They're coughing to the point that they can't catch their breath. And those are the children we really worry about, when infants are getting infected and that could cause more severe illness," said Mestre. Caregivers are urged to get up to date on their vaccines because that can reduce the risk of passing on an infection to young children, Mestre said. Pregnant moms who get vaccinated also pass on immunity to their children, protecting them as soon as they are born. "It's important that people understand that immunity wanes, even if you are vaccinated as a child. And if you are going to be around infants, we recommend vaccination every 10 years," he said.
