News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Scientists have found the first evidence of a link between the 2009 pandemic flu vaccine Pandemrix and an increased risk of narcolepsy in English children, echoing previous findings in several other European countries.

(CIDRAP News) – New European studies reported today in Eurosurveillance suggest that this year's influenza vaccine is providing good protection against influenza B viruses but only moderate protection against type A—findings more or less consistent with earlier results in the United States.

(CIDRAP News) – US flu indicators continued their decline last week, though many states are still reporting brisk levels of flu activity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – Deaths from pneumonia and flu in the United States rose sharply last week, with a rise in hospitalizations that continues to hit older people the hardest, though other disease indicators showed declines, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – Flu activity indicators showed some wobble last week, which might suggest that activity in the United States is starting to ebb in some locations or could reflect some artifacts of disease reporting that health officials sometimes see over the holiday period.