The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that several states have recently reported an unusual finding in some influenza patients this season: parotitis, or swelling of the salivary glands.
The CDC reported the finding yesterday in an update of its current flu guidance for the public, titled "What You Should Know for the 2014-2015 Influenza Season."
Chinese authorities have reported 13 more H7N9 avian influenza cases, 3 of them fatal, in four different provinces, according to official sources today, including an avian flu report issued today by Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP).
A study based on data from more than 2 million Medicare beneficiaries suggests that the high-dose influenza vaccine works better than a standard-dose vaccine for preventing probable flu illness and flu-related hospital admissions in elderly people.
Two of China's provinces—Guangdong and Zhejiang— reported seven more H7N9 avian flu infections today, one of them fatal.
Agriculture officials in Taiwan yesterday said 51 more poultry farms have been struck by H5N8 avian influenza and 108 more facilities have reported more H5N2 outbreaks, with some of the locations hit by both strains, according to two separate reports to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
Chinese officials have reported another H7N9 avian flu illness, in Zhejiang province, and Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) today noted 49 cases that have occurred in recent weeks, but it's difficult to determine if any of them are new.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today published a summary of the recent US outbreaks of avian flu in birds in western states, and late last week it published two guidance documents in response to those detections.
California officials today said they have confirmed 92 measles cases since December, 59 of which are linked to visiting Disneyland, bringing the US total to more than 100 cases, while Toronto has confirmed 4 cases not linked to each other or to travel outside the country.
Avian flu caused by various strains was confirmed in the US, UK, Israel, Japan, Bulgaria, and South Korea.
Influenza seems reluctant to release its grip on the United States, as most measures of flu activity showed little change last week, according to today's update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
