flu season

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In the Last Week, Flu Has 'Exploded' Across US

This year's season is in full swing, per the CDC

(Newser) - The US flu season is underway, with cases surging across much of the country, health officials said Friday. The AP reports that the CDC noted sharp increases in several measures, including lab tests and emergency room visits. "It's been increasing at a pretty steady pace now for the...

Hospital Mask Rules Return as Flu, COVID Cases Rise

Flu cases are accelerating fastest, CDC director says

(Newser) - More US hospitals are requiring masks and limiting visitors as health officials face an expected but still nasty post-holiday spike in flu, COVID-19, and other illnesses. While many experts say this season likely won't prove to be as deadly as some other recent winters, it still could mean hundreds...

Updated COVID Shots Part of Plan to Avoid 'Tripledemic'

Approval of updated vaccines expected within days, just in time for flu and RSV season

(Newser) - Updated COVID-19 vaccines are coming soon, just in time to pair them with flu shots. Doctors hope enough people get vaccinated to help avert another "tripledemic" like last year, when hospitals were overwhelmed with an early flu season, an onslaught of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and yet another winter...

COVID, Flu, Strep Cases Get Classes Canceled 9 Days After School Begins
School Barely Begins, Gets
Canceled Due to Mass Illness
in case you missed it
Aug 27, 2023 10:45 AM CDT

School Barely Begins, Gets Canceled Due to Mass Illness

Kentucky district says nearly a fifth of the student body got sick

(Newser) - The first day of school for Kentucky's Lee County School District was August 9, but by Friday, attendance had already dropped to 82%. By Monday, it was 81%, and 14 teachers had called out sick—so classes were canceled Tuesday and Wednesday, with remote learning planned for Thursday and...

As Flu Rages, Feds Open Gates to Meds From National Stockpile

Flu season has hit hard and early this year

(Newser) - The Biden administration is releasing doses of prescription flu medicine from the Strategic National Stockpile to states as flu-sickened patients continue to flock to hospitals and doctors' offices around the country. This year's flu season has hit hard and early. As cases have spiked, some people are even noticing...

44 States Report High Flu Activity
44 States Report
High Flu Activity
Dec 3, 2022 5:30 AM CST

44 States Report High Flu Activity

Winter flu season usually doesn't get going until December or January, but this one started early

(Newser) - The US flu season keeps getting worse. Health officials said Friday that 7.5% of outpatient medical visits last week were due to flu-like illnesses. That's as high as the peak of the 2017-18 flu season and higher than any season since, the AP reports. The annual winter flu...

We Haven't Seen a Flu Season This Intense Since 2009

CDC says we're seeing hospitalization case levels we usually don't see till December

(Newser) - The CDC's weekly influenza report is out, and it's got concerning news on an atypically early flu season, with a "dramatic" surge in hospitalizations for flu over the past few weeks that have reached levels the US normally doesn't see until December. The health agency reports...

Computer Model Forecasts a 'Very Deadly December'

Along with COVID-19, doctors are also worried about a 'twindemic' of the virus and flu

(Newser) - Dr. Anthony Fauci cautioned Thursday that Americans should prepare to "hunker down" for the fall and winter to keep COVID-19 at bay, and a new computer model is lending weight to that warning. CNN reports that the University of Washington's influential Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecast...

Last Flu Season Was Deadliest in Decades. This Might Be One Reason Why

Just 37.1% of adults got flu shot

(Newser) - Last winter's flu season was the deadliest since the 1970s—79,000 people died—and a report released by the CDC Thursday might explain why. Per the report, just 37.1% of adults were vaccinated last season—the lowest rate since the 2010-11 season, and a drop of 6....

For the First Time in 2 Decades, a New Flu Drug Hits US

US health regulators approve Xofluza

(Newser) - US health regulators have approved the first new type of flu drug in two decades. Wednesday's approval of Xofluza for people ages 12 and older comes ahead of the brunt of this winter's flu season. Xofluza is a pill that can reduce severity and shorten duration of flu...

ER Nurse Eyerolls Her Way Through Flu Rant in Video

Some say her message is 'condescending,' but she says she just wants to keep folks healthy and safe

(Newser) - It's been a tough flu season so far, which is bringing out some tough love from health care professionals. In Florida, that comes in the form of Katherine Lockler, an ER nurse in Escambia County who put out a "polarizing," finger-wagging video about flu season that has...

Flu Season Kicks Off Early— and It May Be a Nasty One

Australia's bad bout with the flu could be a sign of what's to come in US

(Newser) - If you haven't gone for a flu shot yet, you may want to hurry—the season of sickness is already upon us. The CDC's weekly flu tracker notes a wider geographic spread of the illness across the US compared with this time of year in years past. Popular ...

This Year's Flu Shot Isn't Protecting Seniors

It helps in just 9% of cases, says CDC

(Newser) - Senior citizens who got the flu shot this year needn't have bothered, reports USA Today . For those ages 65 and older, this year's vaccine helped in just 9% of cases against the predominant strain, a percentage deemed to be statistically insignificant by the CDC. Factoring in all ages,...

Only Tennessee, Hawaii Still Escaping Flu

But CDC says it's on the wane in some areas

(Newser) - Nine more children or teens have died of the flu, bringing the nation's total this season to 29, health officials said today. In a typical season, about 100 children die of the flu, so it is not known whether this year will be better or worse than usual. (This...

Flu Season So Bad, Vaccine a Hot Commodity

In some places, people having trouble finding the shot

(Newser) - How bad is this year's flu outbreak? So bad that some places are running low on flu vaccine. USA Today has reports from around the country of people having difficulty finding the shot. One Las Vegas woman reports trying six locations before finding a grocery store drug center that...

This Flu Season Is a Doozy
 This Flu Season Is a Doozy 
Jan 8, 2013 11:56 AM CST

This Flu Season Is a Doozy

Across the country, many are under the weather

(Newser) - As predicted , this year's flu season is already a doozy: It features a more severe strain, it started earlier, it's hitting more people, and it has affected a wider swath of the country than usual, USA Today reports. Flu season started earlier this year than it has...

This Year's Flu Season Could Be Really Ugly
 This Year's 
 Flu Season 
 Could Be 
 Really Ugly 
in case you missed it
Dec 8, 2012 7:00 PM CST

This Year's Flu Season Could Be Really Ugly

Dominant strain is a harsh one and off to an early start

(Newser) - Flu season is off to its earliest start in almost a decade, and that could signal rough, tissue-filled days ahead. Five Southern states saw a high number of doctor visits for flu-like symptoms in late November, months earlier than usual, and that has federal health officials warning that we could...

America's Sickest Cities

Hint: Florida's not the place to be during flu season

(Newser) - Think spring is around the corner and the end to sneezing and sick ickyness is in sight? Think again, because there's lots of flu left to pass around. The Daily Beast runs down the 20 sickest cities, as broken down by health ranking, vaccination coverage, influenza deaths, and how much...

Swine Flu Killed 17K Americans: CDC
 Swine Flu Killed 17K 
 Americans: CDC 
h1n1 outbreak
Feb 12, 2010 1:30 PM CST

Swine Flu Killed 17K Americans: CDC

Total lower than usual, but victims skew younger

(Newser) - The H1N1 pandemic has been less deadly than a normal flu season, but the infection has claimed the lives of far younger victims, the CDC announced today. The outbreak killed 17,000 Americans, far less than the 36,000 who die during an average flu season. But in a normal...

Swine Flu Hits 1 in 6
 Swine Flu Hits 1 in 6 
Dec 11, 2009 1:40 AM CST

Swine Flu Hits 1 in 6

H1N1 has killed 10K Americans

(Newser) - Swine flu had sickened 50 million Americans, and killed 10,000 of them by mid-November, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates released yesterday. A sixth of the population has been infected and over 200,000 people with the H1N1 virus have been hospitalized. The number of deaths...

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