Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Flu Season Still To Peak; Experts Say Expect More Illnesses, Deaths To Come
If you havent caught the flu this season, perhaps you know someone who has, or are concerned about the virus infiltrating your household. We are, by at least one measure, in the midst of the nations worst flu season in recent decades. At least 24 million illnesses, 310,000 hospitalizations, and 13,000 influenza-linked deathsincluding 57 childrenhave plagued the U.S. this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Flu-related emergency department visits necessitated the CDCs most severe very high ranking as of Feb. 7, as did influenza virus activity in national wastewater samples. (Leake, 2/12)
California is grappling with an unusually severe flu season this winter, with hospitalizations rising and concerns that the outbreak could last for weeks. The situation is particularly dire in the Bay Area, where Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, said flu activity has reached alarming levels. 2025 is the year of flu in the Bay Area, he said, highlighting the overwhelming number of cases impacting emergency departments. (Vaziri, 2/12)
Later this month influenza experts from around the world will gather at the Crick Worldwide Influenza Center in London to pour over data in a multi-day effort, led by the World Health Organization, to decide which specific viruses next winters flu shot should target. For now, the WHO doesnt know if U.S. government representatives will show up. Whether they do so could have an impact on the composition, and ultimately the effectiveness, of flu vaccines throughout the Northern Hemisphere and beyond. (Branswell, 2/13)
On measles, mpox, and Oropouche
"It is troubling, because this was completely preventable," Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at Johns Hopkins, told CBS Newson Wednesday. "What we're seeing is, one of the places in Texas it has the lowest vaccination rates, the highest school exemption rates from measles vaccination having a measles outbreak, including hospitalizations of individuals who've been infected with measles." (Moniuszko and Higgins, 2/12)
New research on the epidemiologic and genomic evolution of the clade 1b mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) suggests 83% of cases were linked to sex work, three healthcare workers contracted the disease, and infected pregnant women frequently miscarried.... In related news, New York state officials have confirmed clade 1b in a resident, the first such case in New York state and the fourth clade 1b case confirmed in the United States. (Soucheray, 2/12)
In an update on Oropouche virus activity, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) yesterday said in the first four weeks of the year, 3,765 cases have already been reported from six Americas countries, most of them from Brazil. Other countries reporting local cases include Panama, Peru, Cuba, and Guyana, as well as an imported case from Canada. ... Of countries reported importing cases, the United States reported 108, all involving travel to Cuba. (Schnirring, 2/12)
