Although complete flu vaccine coverage increased dramatically from 2002-03 to 2011-12 in kids under 2 years old, it still falls well below 50% and is even lower in minority groups, according to a study yesterday in Pediatrics.
The multistate outbreak of Listeria infections tied to Dole salads has grown by 3 cases, to 15, while the number of affected states has grown from 6 to 8 and Dole announced an expanded recall, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in an update. The number of deaths remains the same, at one.
Provincial health officials have confirmed H7N9 avian flu in a 33-year-old man in Hunan province, the first case in the central China province this winter, according to Xinhua, China's state news agency.
The man, from Xintian County, is hospitalized. No other information about his condition or risk factors is available.
In its monthly report on influenza at the animal-human interface, the World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed human H5N1 and H9N2 avian flu cases in Bangladesh. Both were from October.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Jan 22 updated its highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) fall plan, fine-tuning details about reimbursing farmers for lost poultry and finalizing its vaccination policy should that step be enacted.
The original fall plan was released in September 2015 after multiple HPAI outbreaks decimated flocks in some states in the spring and summer.
Flu activity in the United States continued a slow but steady rise last week, with slight increases seen in several of the markers that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses to track the levels.
A team led by Duke University researchers has developed a gene-detecting test that could help physicians determine whether an acute respiratory infection (ARI) is caused by a virus or a bacterium, which could reduce antibiotic overprescribing, according to a study yesterday in Science Translational Medicine.
Shortly after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released guidance on Zika virus infection and pregnancy yesterday, Illinois officials reported two imported cases in pregnant women, a potential risk for birth defects.
Guangdong province in China has confirmed its fifth H5N6 avian flu infection in 3 weeks, the world's ninth such case, and Fujian province reported its first H7N9 avian flu case of the winter, Xinhua reported today.
Testing hints that the avian flu virus mutated to a more lethal strain as it spread.
