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☆ As flu hospitalizations surge in the U.S., the Southeast is the hardest hit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Five out every 100,000 people in the U.S. were hospitalized with the flu during the week ending Nov. 5, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's the highest hospitalization rate this early in the flu season since 2010, more than 10 years ago. Flu hospitalizations have surged to a decade high in the U.S. with the Southeast the hardest region right now. Flu activity is also very high in Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York City and Texas, according to the CDC. "There are also early signs of influenza causing severe illness in precisely these two groups of individuals this season," Romero told reporters during a call earlier this month.

☆ Covid, flu, RSV: Here are the best masks and masking methods for protection against the 'tripledemic'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

As we get deeper into fall season, experts are warning of a potential 'tripledemic' – the circulation of Covid-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), all at the same time. "The KN95 and N95 [masks] have a particulate filtration efficiency of 95% or above," Taubner explains. "Cloth masks [without filters], which don't have a minimum threshold, probably test in the neighborhood of 20% or 30%." But it's important to keep in mind that, depending on where you purchase your KN95 and N95 masks, you could be receiving less protection than you think, he says. When purchasing masks, he suggests: Buying from a reputable companySeeking out companies that are transparent about their supply chain, including listing their manufacturerReferring to the CDC's guidance for masksMasking methods for the most protection

☆ As Covid cases tick up, here are latest CDC guidelines for testing and isolation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about masking, testing and isolation haven't changed much since the CDC last updated its recommendations in August. When to wear a maskSince February, the CDC has based masking guidelines on three metrics: new Covid cases, hospital capacity and hospital admissions. The Food and Drug Administration recommends that people with a known exposure who test negative take a second test 48 hours later. for at least five days after your positive test (details about when to leave isolation can be found below). If you continue to test positive beyond day 10, the CDC recommends you continue masking.

The rise comes as other respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are also spreading early and rapidly. Common winter viruses tend to peak in December and January — not October and November — though it's unclear how the early and intense spread of respiratory viruses will ultimately play out this season. It's the first time since the beginning of the Covid pandemic that run-of-the-mill respiratory viruses are again circulating widely. Other respiratory viruses, including rhinoviruses and enteroviruses, are also circulating widely, and could account for some of those illnesses. "We'll probably start seeing cases rise on the West Coast in the coming weeks," said Dr. Meredith McMorrow, a pediatrician and team lead for Enhanced Surveillance Platforms at the CDC.

Alcohol-related deaths rose by 26% from 2019 to 2020, a new report published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds. From 2000 through 2018, age-adjusted alcohol-related deaths rose yearly, but never at a rate higher than 7%. Overall, alcohol-related death rates are higher among men than women; in 2020, there were 19.2 deaths per 100,000 men, compared with 7.5 per 100,000 women. The researchers found that alcohol-related deaths were most common among middle-aged adults. Overall, alcohol deaths among women rose by 27% from 2019 to 2020.

☆ U.S. faces highest flu hospitalization rate in a decade with young kids and seniors most at risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. is facing the highest flu hospitalization rates in more than a decade with children and the elderly most at risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Flu and respiratory syncytial virus had receded during the Covid-19 pandemic due to mitigation measures such as masks and social distancing. About about 3 patients are being hospitalized with the flu out of every 100,000 people with the virus right now, which is the highest rate since 2010. Seniors and children younger than age 5 face the biggest risk right now, with hospitalization rates about double the general population, according to CDC data. In the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, H1N1 flu viruses are growing in circulation, he said.

☆ Omicron subvariants are resistant to key antibody treatments, putting people with weak immune systems at risk of Covid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Emerging omicron subvariants are resistant to key antibody treatments for HIV patients, kidney transplant recipients and other immunocompromised people, making them particularly vulnerable to Covid this winter, the White House warned this week. While this may be true for the general population, it is not the case for people with weak immune systems. Evusheld is an antibody cocktail authorized by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent Covid in people ages 12 and older who have moderately or severely compromised immune systems. Evusheld, made by AstraZeneca , has helped fill a gap in protection for those with weak immune systems who cannot mount a strong response to the vaccines. Jha acknowledged at the White House on Tuesday that the U.S. has dwindling treatment and prevention options for people with weak immune systems as Covid evolves.

☆ Omicron subvariants pose a new threat to people with immune deficiencies
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Benjamin Ryan | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Troubling recent reports reveal the emergence of new omicron subvariants that not only evade AstraZeneca’s Evusheld, the antibody drug authorized to prevent Covid infection, but also the sole antibody drug that has retained effectiveness as treatment for Covid, Eli Lilly’s bebtelovimab. Doctors have cautioned that should Laura get Covid, this could aggravate her autoimmune disease and lead to catastrophic kidney damage. Evusheld is a long-acting antibody injection given every six months that studies have suggested provides a robust buffer to the immunosuppressed. For now, immunocompromised people are anxiously watching the pandemic forecast to see if the subvariants that research indicates evade monoclonal antibodies will become predominant. “If fewer people are prescribed Evusheld,” she said, “there’s less incentive for drug companies to start developing newer therapeutics.

☆ CDC is discussing using oral polio vaccine for first time in 20 years to stop New York outbreak
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"There will be lots of thought and discussion about the reintroduction of an oral polio vaccine into the United States," she said. The oral polio vaccine is much more effective at stopping transmission of the virus and is normally used to quash outbreaks. The novel oral polio vaccine was developed to stop poliovirus outbreaks caused by the less stable older version of the vaccine, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Any decision to use the novel oral polio vaccine would require either an approval or emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The World Health Organization recommends that countries using the inactivated vaccine, such as the U.S., consider deploying the novel oral polio vaccine if the inactivated shots don't stop the outbreak.

An advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Thursday in favor of adding the Covid vaccine to the recommended immunization schedule for children and adults. The decision to officially add Covid vaccination to the schedule now goes to the CDC. The recommended immunization schedule is not a vaccine mandate. For example, the CDC added the HPV vaccine to the recommended schedule in 2006. The CDC's recommended vaccination schedule also provides guidance to insurance providers, which tend to cover vaccines on the list.

☆ U.S. CDC advisers approve adding COVID shots to vaccine schedules
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee on vaccines on Thursday approved adding COVID-19 vaccines to the agency's recommended immunization schedules for both children and adults. Several committee members stressed that they were not setting a requirement for anyone to receive the shots. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe CDC has recommended that Americans over 6 months of age should receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC stressed that the annual schedules reflect recommendations already approved by ACIP and do not reflect new policies. On Wednesday, ACIP recommended that COVID-19 shots become part of the CDC's vaccine program for children, which provides many types of free inoculations to millions of kids each year.

Other omicron subvariants that have piqued the interest — and concerns — of scientists read like a viral alphabet soup: BQ.1, BQ.1.1, BF.7. Ever since the omicron variant emerged, it's been omicron all the way down, with omicron subvariants splitting off into their own subvariants. Barouch's study was small, including just 35 people who'd had either the Covid vaccine or an omicron infection. Most, regardless of prior infection, had at least three doses of Covid vaccine. The World Health Organization is tracking more than 300 omicron subvariants worldwide, Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said during a media briefing Wednesday.

As an outbreak of Ebola spreads in Uganda, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention remain confident that the virus can be contained. The people most at risk, therefore, are household contacts and health care workers treating Ebola patients. In 2019, a vaccine was approved for the Ebola virus that caused the 2014 outbreak. The current Ebola outbreak, however, is caused by a different species of the virus, and no vaccines or direct treatments are available. The Ebola virus causes hemorrhagic fever, leading to problems with how the body clots blood.

☆ Uninsured kids will still receive Covid vaccines for free after shots move to commercial market
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The CDC's independent advisors voted unanimously on Wednesday to include Covid shots authorized for kids by the Food and Drug Administration in the federal government's Vaccines for Children program. The Vaccines for Children program provides vaccines to kids under age 19 whose families cannot afford them. The federal government has been providing Covid vaccines to everyone in the U.S. for free during the pandemic. Dr. Jeanne Santoli, a CDC official, said the public health agency will start awarding contracts for health care providers to give the Covid shots for free to uninsured kids. The decision to include Covid shots in the free vaccine program will prove crucial to maintaining access for many children.

☆ U.S. committee recommends COVID shot for CDC's free vaccine program
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Hannah BeierNEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters) - An expert committee on Wednesday recommended that COVID-19 shots become part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) vaccine program for children, which provides many types of free inoculations to millions of kids each year. While all COVID-19 vaccines are currently provided free in the United States by the federal government, the U.S. public health emergency is expected to end in early 2023 and the private market will take over distribution of COVID vaccines and treatments. The committee's recommendation allows for distribution by the Vaccines for Children Program under the CDC's current COVID vaccine guidance, which is for all children over the age of 6 months to be vaccinated and those age 5 and older to receive booster shots. In the United States, the CDC sets out a schedule of vaccination targets by age and states decide which vaccines are mandatory for school entry. Only about one-third of school-aged children have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in the United States.

☆ Trump administration blocked CDC transit mask mandate, report shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But the report stated that CDC had heard from the transit industry that it wanted the federal government to issue a mandate. Cetron, who heads the CDC's division of global migration and quarantine, said the agency was told by Trump administration officials that a mask requirement on mass transportation "would not happen," according to the report. Days after President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the CDC issued a sweeping order requiring face masks on nearly all forms of public transportation. Reuters reported in July 2020 that the Trump administration had held extensive talks about whether the CDC should issue an order requiring transportation masking. Many U.S. conservatives opposed government mandates requiring masks during the pandemic.

☆ FDA authorizes Covid omicron booster shots for kids as young as 5 years old
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized Covid booster shots that target the omicron variant for preschoolers through elementary school students. Pfizer's new omicron boosters are now authorized for children ages 5 to 11 and Moderna's shots for kids ages 6 through 17. The new boosters target omicron BA.5 as well as the original strain of Covid that first emerged in Wuhan, China, in 2019. The first generation of Covid shots were developed in 2020 to target the original strain of Covid. More than 11 million Americans ages 12 and older have received the new booster shots so far, according to CDC data.

☆ U.S. authorizes updated COVID booster shots for children as young as 5
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 12 (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators authorized the use of Omicron-tailored COVID-19 booster shots from Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) in children as young as 5, a move that will expand the government's fall vaccination campaign. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday green-lighted Moderna's bivalent vaccine for those aged six and above, while Pfizer's updated shot was authorized in children aged five and above. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also backed the FDA's authorization, clearing the way for the shots to be administered in children. Overall, COVID-19 vaccination rates in the United States have stayed low among kids, with nearly 40% of children aged 5-11 vaccinated with one dose of a vaccine so far. Around 11.5 million people received the updated shots over the first five weeks of the rollout last month, which represents just 5.4% of the people aged 12 or older who are eligible to receive them.

☆ Europe likely entering another COVID wave, says WHO and ECDC
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Another wave of COVID-19 infections may have begun in Europe as cases begin to tick up across the region, the World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday. "We are unfortunately seeing indicators rising again in Europe, suggesting that another wave of infections has begun." Public health experts have warned that vaccine fatigue and confusion over available vaccines will likely limit booster uptake in the region. read moreMillions of people across Europe remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, the WHO and ECDC noted. They urged European countries to administer both flu and COVID-19 vaccines ahead of an expected surge in cases of seasonal influenza.

☆ Pfizer or Moderna: Which new omicron-specific Covid booster should you get?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Americans have two options for a new omicron-specific Covid booster shot: Pfizer or Moderna. Pfizer's booster is cleared for anyone 12 and older, while Moderna's booster is for people 18 and older. "People ages 18 years and older may get a different product for a booster than they got for their primary series, as long as it is [Pfizer or Moderna,]" the CDC's website reads. "It's OK to mix and match Moderna and Pfizer," Dr. Ralph Gonzales, associate dean for clinical innovation at UC San Francisco, said at a campus town hall earlier this month. I definitely felt a stronger response with the Moderna — having had Pfizer before — but either combinations are fine."

☆ Truckers, lawmaker push for U.S. to drop foreign visitor vaccine requirement
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A passenger walks along terminal 2 at the San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California , U.S., September 3, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - A group representing truck drivers in North America and a New York lawmaker on Monday asked the Biden administration to rescind a requirement for foreign visitors to be vaccinated. The United States in June rescinded its requirement that people arriving in the country by air test negative for COVID-19 but has not lifted vaccination requirements for nearly all foreign visitors arriving by air or at land ports. Canada said Monday it will drop all COVID-19 restrictions for travelers starting Oct. 1, including vaccination and masking requirements for flights and trains. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend travelers wear masks and get COVID-19 tests before and after international flights.

☆ What is rainbow fentanyl? Colorful pills drive new warnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

"Colored fentanyl pills have been around for a few years. At the time, the agency said that it and its law enforcement partners seized the brightly colored fentanyl and fentanyl pills across 18 states. While he and his colleagues are aware of rainbow fentanyl warnings, he hasn't heard any patients or parents mention it. When it comes to rainbow fentanyl, "the fentanyl itself is going to be the same issue as the counterfeit pharmaceutical fentanyl. The only difference between rainbow fentanyl and the fentanyl products of the past appears to be the coloring.

☆ Moderna asks FDA to authorize omicron Covid boosters for children as young as 6 years old
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Moderna has asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize its omicron booster shots for children, the company announced on Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a document published Tuesday, said it expects children to become eligible for the omicron boosters by mid-October pending authorization by the FDA. Pfizer told the CDC advisory committee earlier this month that it expects to ask the FDA to authorize omicron boosters for children ages 5 to 11 in early October. U.S. health regulators cleared Moderna's omicron boosters for adults earlier this month. There is also concern that the original shots' effectiveness at preventing hospitalization and severe illness is starting to decline.

☆ Omicron-specific Covid boosters for children ages 5 to 11 are 'only a matter of weeks away,' says FDA vaccine chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

New omicron-specific Covid boosters for children ages 5 to 11 are "only a matter of weeks away," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's vaccine chief. Marks added that an authorization for the youngest age group — kids under 5 — is still "a few months away." The CDC expects Pfizer's redesigned booster to be for children ages 5 to 11, and Moderna's to be for children ages 6 to 17. Currently, children ages 5 to 11 are only eligible to receive Covid vaccines for their primary series, and a single monovalent booster dose from Pfizer. If the new bivalent boosters receive approval from the FDA and CDC, the monovalent boosters may no longer be authorized for the age group, according to the CDC's planning guide.

☆ 1 in 3 workers fear they'll catch Covid by returning to the office—here's how to keep yourself healthy
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

A recent Gallup poll found that one in three U.S. workers are "very" or "moderately" concerned about Covid exposure at work. Stay up-to-date on your Covid vaccinesStaying up-to-date on your vaccines is the best way to protect yourself from Covid. That means completing your primary series and receiving the booster shots you're eligible for. You'll need to be at least two months out from your last dose of any Covid shot, the CDC says. Have completed your primary series, but are immunocompromisedHave completed your primary series and are in an area with a substantial or high level spread of Covid.

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