Two recent papers claim there are no differences between surgical masks and respirators for preventing the spread of respiratory diseases like COVID-19 and flu, but the articles are deeply flawed.
The loss of activity is equivalent to 15% of the US population becoming completely immobile for 1 day.
Adult COVID-19 patients also infected with the flu are 4 times more likely to need mechanical ventilation and 2.4 times more likely to die.
The roadmap offers a powerful opportunity to leverage advances in vaccine science to better protect against influenza, including pandemic flu.
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The CDC points out that flu vaccine uptake in children this season is 6 percentage points lower than before the pandemic.
In another COVID development, the FDA pulled its EUA for Evusheld, the last available monoclonal antibody treatment, due to weak activity against the newer circulating subvariants.
In North America, flu levels are now at or below levels typically seen at this time of the year.
The percentage of outpatient visits for influenza-like respiratory illness dropped to 3%, down from 4% the week before.
The percentage of outpatient visits for flulike illness dropped from 5.4% to 4%, and 23 jurisdictions reported high or very high flu activity, down from 39.
Though many indicators declined, a 3-week-long drop in hospitalizations leveled off.
Forty-four states reported very high (25) or high (19) flu activity, down from 48 the week before.
The XBB Omicron variant is now dominant in the northeastern region. Meanwhile, flu activity is still high, but declined in most areas.
An earlier flu season does not necessarily mean more cases overall, experts who question the popular narrative say.
HHS is expanding access through stockpiles that had been reserved for use in a future flu pandemic.
