Category: Flu Virus

Concerned about a bird flu outbreak, the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo has removed its birds from public viewing and canceled all bird interactions, including the popular flamingo feeding activity, until further notice.

Avian influenza in wild birds and poultry is common in the U.S. but typically poses low risk to humans, according to the zoos website. The outbreaks do pose a threat to local birds, however, and the zoo, located at 1451 Middlefield Road, is taking precautions to protect its feathered inhabitants.

The current outbreak of avian influenza is highly pathogenic, according to a press release from Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society. Four cases were detected in Canada geese and red-tailed hawks in Santa Clara County in August and early September.

Avian influenza typically is restricted to aquatic birds.

"This is primarily because of the watery habitat they enjoy, which assists in the spread of the virus," Matthew Dodder, executive director of Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, said in an emailed statement. "It is well known that wildfowl, particularly ducks and geese, will make use of small urban ponds and pools."

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Junior Museum and Zoo removes birds from view amid avian flu outbreak - Mountain View Voice

New Omicron-targeting COVID-19 vaccine boosters are available through Yale Health and local pharmacies. Heres what you need to know about getting a booster.

Alexandra Martinez-Garcia 11:25 pm, Sep 28, 2022

Contributing Reporter

Jessai Flores, Illustrations Editor

Search for vaccine availability in your area at vaccines.gov. You can also call the Campus COVID Resource Line (CCRL) at 203-432-6604.

New COVID-19 booster vaccines the first to specifically target the uniquely contagious Omicron variant are available at pharmacies on campus and in New Haven.

Campus and city officials are encouraging people to make appointments as soon as possible through Yale Healths clinic or local pharmacies. Appointments are currently available through Yale Health, with current wait times at around eight to ten days.

The newest boosters, produced by Pfizer and Moderna, were authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month and became widely available soon after.

Known as bivalent boosters or updated boosters, the new shots contain mRNA components that protect against both the original strains of the COVID-19 virus as well as the newer, more contagious strains BA.4 and BA.5 that have become dominant in the United States.

Who should get a booster shot?

Boosters are recommended for all people who received their last shot either an initial two-dose series or a previous booster at least two months ago, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[The booster] helps to protect one not only from getting sick with COVID-19 but also prevents severe disease, said Richard Martinello, medical director of infection prevention at Yale New Haven Health. Everyones at risk, even if youve had COVID before.

Martinello said that all people, even those who have had COVID previously, are at risk for infection. Long-term post-COVID-19 conditions can be debilitating for students, he added.

Pfizers new bivalent booster is authorized for use in people 12 and older, and the Moderna booster is approved for those 18 and older. Boosters are not yet recommended for children younger than 12.

Martinello suggested that those infected with COVID-19 wait until one month after recovery before receiving a booster.

Where can I get the COVID-19 booster in New Haven?

Yale affiliates including students, staff, faculty and other Yale Health members can make appointments to receive the updated booster at Yale Healths vaccine clinic through MyChart or through the Yale COVID-19 Vaccine Program. Yale Health is currently offering updated Pfizer boosters.

In addition, appointments can be made through local pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens. Available appointments can be found at the federal website vaccines.gov. Yale asks that students and faculty who choose off-campus options report their updates in vaccinations.

It was super easy to register and receive [the booster], Josh Guo 24 wrote to the News. I scheduled my appointment through MyChart, and the clinic is a little far but pretty accessible via the Yale Shuttle.

Yale Healths vaccine clinic at Science Park is at 310 Winchester Avenue, around a 20-minute walk from central campus. The facility is separate from its main location on Lock Street.

On the other hand, scheduling appointments for some people, like Isabella Walther-Meade 25, has not been as easy.

According to Walther-Meade, her appointment at Walgreens which she scheduled online ten days in advance ended up being pretty stressful as it took about two hours due to staffing shortages. Walther-Meade chose to register at Walgreens because she was not sure how to do so through Yale Health and Walgreens appeared to have more appointments available on earlier dates.

Patients should bring a photo ID and insurance card to vaccine appointments.

Can I get my COVID-19 booster shot and flu shot at the same time?

Public health officials have also been urging people to protect themselves against the more familiar influenza virus. Flu season in the United States typically occurs during the fall and winter months.

The CDC has recommended that those receiving two shots during the same appointment receive them in different arms.

Flu shots are free and available to all people six months and older. Individuals with scheduled appointments for COVID-19 boosters will have the opportunity to receive a flu shot during the same appointment.

Does the booster have side effects?

Students have reported only mild side-effects after receiving their updated boosters. Several said that their reactions were less severe compared to reactions from their first booster shots.

I only had arm soreness for a day or two, Walther-Meade wrote in a statement to the News. I had a relatively severe reaction to my first booster, so I was relieved.

Olivia Meisner GRD 25 said she experienced a headache, mild fatigue and body aches. Roy Kohavi 26 also experienced a decrease in the severity of his side effects, going from headaches and fatigue after his original booster to no symptoms at all after his updated booster.

Martinello mentioned that health professionals are not seeing any side effects outside of the realm of what [theyve] previously seen, meaning that students and faculty who get the bivalent booster should not expect symptoms they havent experienced or heard about before.

Hospital remains strained by COVID-19 infections

Martinello stressed the importance of getting boosted to protect the overall community, especially as Yale New Haven Hospital continues to admit a steady stream of COVID-19 patients.

One of the things I worry about on a daily basis is how full our hospital is, Martinello said. In the last few months weve had 65 to 100 patients in our hospital with COVID-19 that takes a lot of resources that are very important for other health needs that our community has.

The Yale Health vaccine clinic is located at 310 Winchester Avenue.

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How to get a booster shot at Yale and in New Haven - Yale Daily News

When is the pandemic over? In the early days of 2020, we envisioned it ending with the novel coronavirus going away entirely. When this became impossible, we hoped instead for elimination: If enough people got vaccinated, herd immunity might largely stop the virus from spreading. When this too became impossible, we accepted that the virus would still circulate but imagined that it could become, optimistically, like one of the four coronaviruses that cause common colds or, pessimistically, like something more severe, akin to the flu.

Instead, COVID has settled into something far worse than the flu. When President Joe Biden declared this week, The pandemic is over. If you notice, no ones wearing masks, the country was still recording more than 400 COVID deaths a daymore than triple the average number from flu.

This shifting of goal posts is, in part, a reckoning with the biological reality of COVID. The virus that came out of Wuhan, China, in 2019 was already so good at spreadingincluding from people without symptomsthat eradication probably never stood a chance once COVID took off internationally. I dont think that was ever really practically possible, says Stephen Morse, an epidemiologist at Columbia. In time, it also became clear that immunity to COVID is simply not durable enough for elimination through herd immunity. The virus evolves too rapidly, and our own immunity to COVID infection fades too quicklyas it does with other respiratory viruseseven as immunity against severe disease tends to persist. (The elderly who mount weaker immune responses remain the most vulnerable: 88 percent of COVID deaths so far in September have been in people over 65.) With a public weary of pandemic measures and a government reluctant to push them, the situation seems unlikely to improve anytime soon. Trevor Bedford, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, estimates that COVID will continue to exact a death toll of 100,000 Americans a year in the near future. This too is approximately three times that of a typical flu year.

I keep returning to the flu because, back in early 2021, with vaccine excitement still fresh in the air, several experts told my colleague Alexis Madrigal that a reasonable threshold for lifting COVID restrictions was 100 deaths a day, roughly on par with flu. We largely tolerate, the thinking went, the risk of flu without major disruptions to our lives. Since then, widespread immunity, better treatments, and the less virulent Omicron variant have together pushed the risk of COVID to individuals down to a flu-like level. But across the whole population, COVID is still killing many times more people than influenza is, because it is still sickening so many more people.

Bedford told me he estimates that Omicron has infected 80 percent of Americans. Going forward, COVID might continue to infect 50 percent of the population every year, even without another Omicron-like leap in evolution. In contrast, flu sickens an estimated 10 to 20 percent of Americans a year. These are estimates, because lack of testing hampers accurate case counts for both diseases, but COVIDs higher death toll is a function of higher transmission. The tens of thousands of recorded caseslikely hundreds of thousands of actual cases every dayalso add to the burden of long COVID.

The challenge of driving down COVID transmission has also become clearer with time. In early 2021, the initially spectacular vaccine-efficacy data bolstered optimism that vaccination could significantly dampen transmission. Breakthrough cases were downplayed as very rare. And they wereat first. But immunity to infection is not durable against common respiratory viruses. Flu, the four common-cold coronaviruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and others all reinfect us over and over again. The same proved true with COVID. Right at the beginning, we should have made that very clear. When you saw 95 percent against mild disease, with the trials done in December 2020, we should have said right then this is not going to last, says Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Even vaccinating the whole world would not eliminate COVID transmission.

This coronavirus has also proved a wilier opponent than expected. Despite a relatively slow rate of mutation at the beginning of the pandemic, it soon evolved into variants that are more inherently contagious and better at evading immunity. With each major wave, the virus has only gotten more transmissible, says Ruth Karron, a vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins. The coronavirus cannot keep becoming more transmissible forever, but it can keep changing to evade our immunity essentially forever. Its rate of evolution is much higher than that of other common-cold coronaviruses. Its higher than that of even H3N2 fluthe most troublesome and fastest-evolving of the influenza viruses. Omicron, according to Bedford, is the equivalent of five years of H3N2 evolution, and its subvariants are still outpacing H3N2s usual rate. We dont know how often Omicron-like events will happen. COVIDs rate of change may eventually slow down when the virus is no longer novel in humans, or it may surprise us again.

In the past, flu pandemics ended after the virus swept through so much of the population that it could no longer cause huge waves. But the pandemic virus did not disappear; it became the new seasonal-flu virus. The 1968 H3N2 pandemic, for example, seeded the H3N2 flu that still sickens people today. I suspect its probably caused even more morbidity and mortality in all those years since 1968, Morse says. The pandemic ended, but the virus continued killing people.

Ironically, H3N2 did go away during the coronavirus pandemic. Measures such as social distancing and masking managed to almost entirely eliminate the flu. (It has not disappeared entirely, though, and may be back in full force this winter.) Cases of other respiratory viruses, such as RSV, also plummeted. Experts hoped that this would show Americans a new normal, where we dont simply tolerate the flu and other respiratory illnesses every winter. Instead, the country is moving toward a new normal where COVID is also something we tolerate every year.

In the same breath that President Biden said, The pandemic is over, he went on to say, We still have a problem with COVID. Were still doing a lot of work on it. You might see this as a contradiction, or you might see it as how we deal with every other diseasean attempt at normalizing COVID, if you will. The government doesnt treat flu, cancer, heart disease, tuberculosis, hepatitis C, etc., as national emergencies that disrupt everyday life, even as the work continues on preventing and treating them. The U.S.s COVID strategy certainly seems to be going in that direction. Broad restrictions such as mask mandates are out of the question. Interventions targeted at those most vulnerable to severe disease exist, but they arent getting much fanfare. This falls COVID-booster campaign has been muted. Treatments such as bebtelovimab and Evusheld remain on shelves underpublicized and underused.

At the same time, hundreds of Americans are still dying of COVID every day and will likely continue to die of COVID every day. A cumulative annual toll of 100,000 deaths a year would still make COVID a top-10 cause of death, ahead of any other infectious disease. When the first 100,000 Americans died of COVID, in spring 2020, newspapers memorialized the grim milestone. The New York Times devoted its entire front page to chronicling the lives lost to COVID. It might have been hard to imagine, back in 2020, that the U.S. would come to accept 100,000 people dying of COVID every year. Whether or not that means the pandemic is over, the second part of the presidents statement is harder to argue with: COVID is and will remain a problem.

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Why COVID Is Still Worse Than Flu - The Atlantic

Low clouds and rain showers move across the Thief Lake Wildlife Management Area as a two person crew in a small boat splashes ashore carrying dozens of ducks in plastic crates.

The ducks were captured in traps baited with barley out on the water.

The crew carried the grumbling ducks to a processing site set up on two pickup trucks parked with tailgates open. Pliers, syringes and swabs are laid out, ready for action.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources waterfowl technicians Sophie Arhart and Ryan Dunnell come to shore with dozens of captured ducks in crates. Each of the ducks will get a numbered leg identification band, some will be swabbed and have blood drawn to test for avian influenza.

Dan Gunderson | MPR News

Minnesota DNR biologist Ciara McCarty reaches into a crate and grabs a Blue-winged Teal.

McCarty records the leg band number and the age and sex of the duck.

This is part of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources annual waterfowl banding initiative. Each year some 3,000 ducks are captured and outfitted with a numbered aluminum leg band. When hunters turn in the bands, it helps biologists track migration patterns and bird mortality.

But a subset of these ducks will also be tested for avian influenza.

Swabs test for active virus on the bird and then blood samples will test for antibodies within the blood, explained McCarty.

This is a multi-agency effort. The team catching the ducks and leading the banding work is DNR.

U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife disease biologist Timothy White is here collecting fecal and throat swabs to test for highly pathogenic avian influenza.

The swabs will be sent to a lab in Missouri. Any positive results will be confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources waterfowl biologist Ciara McCarty holds two ducks as she processes captured ducks at the Thief Lake wildlife management area.

Dan Gunderson | MPR News

This is part of a national surveillance effort.

"By taking this national approach, we can get information not just from here, but as they move down the flyway in the different states," said White.

It helps give us an understanding of whats going on in the wild bird, he said. And we can pass that information along to poultry producers and maybe it will help them make different management decisions as far as protecting their flocks.

Minnesota sees a lot of ducks. According to the DNR, 60 percent of migratory birds in North American pass through the state as they follow the Mississippi flyway in spring and fall.

Researchers are eager to learn more about the highly pathogenic avian flu virus because the current variant is not acting like those in previous outbreaks.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources waterfowl technician Sophie Arhart releases a captured duck at Thief Lake wildlife management area.

Dan Gunderson | MPR News

This virus has continued to circulate through the summer, killing many more wild birds compared to previous outbreaks.

Theres a lot of virus out on the landscape, which makes this surveillance important, said Julianna Lenoch, USDA National Wildlife Disease Program coordinator.

"The biggest things for us to understand (are), is the virus still circulating, which bird species are carrying it and which flyways they may be returning to as we look to the fall migration and the birds returning across North America," she said.

Lenoch said poultry producers did a great job earlier this year of reducing the impact of the virus by implementing strong biosecurity plans, and those plans should be active now.

I wouldn't wait for it to be detected close to you, our evidence right now is that this virus is pretty widespread and pretty present, so all of our poultry enthusiasts are encouraged to maintain that level of biosecurity, she said.

A duck has a swab sample taken from its throat to be tested for avian influenza virus at Thief Lake Wildlife Management Area near Middle River, Minn.

Dan Gunderson | MPR News

The Minnesota Board of Animal Health has reported nearly a dozen case of avian influenza in commercial and backyard poultry flocks this month.

Lenoch says there are at least two variants of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus circulating in North America. One entered the country on the east coast, the other on the west coast.

Viruses are constantly mutating and co-mingling and experts want to know what might have changed over the summer.

"So what's important for us to understand now is are we seeing any mixing of those viruses, said Lenoch. Could we potentially see any emergence of a new virus in North America as those strains and those bird migratory pathways converge? That helps us potentially understand what we might be looking at for fall risk."

Throat and rectal swab samples are collected from a duck to test for the presence of avian influenza. Waterfowl can often carry a variety of avian influenza viruses without becoming sick.

Dan Gunderson | MPR News

The landscape is riddled with risk, if you're an avian out there, said Bryan Richards, the Emerging Disease Coordinator at theU.S. Geological SurveyNational Wildlife Health Center. The virus is out there, it remains a threat, it didn't go away. And I think the evidence suggests we'll see more of this going on through the fall.

The virus has continued to kill wild birds over the summer, hitting colonial nesting birds such as terns and pelicans hard, said Richards. The virus has also been found in a range of mammals from juvenile red fox in Minnesota to a black bear in Canada, and earlier this month the first ever case in a dolphin in Florida.

And now we're at the beginning of fall bird migration, so birds are on the move. And so those birds coming back down from northern latitudes, well have to see what they bring with them, said Richards.

While USDA is conducting surveillance in 49 states for the virus responsible for outbreak that's killed more than 40 million turkeys and chickens nationwide, and nearly 3.5 million domestic poultry in Minnesota this year, other researchers are taking a deeper look.

At the Thief Lake Wildlife Management Area, Alinde Fojtik prepares to draw a blood sample from the jugular vein of a duck immobilized on the tailgate of a pickup.

Blood is drawn from a few ducks to test for viral antibodies. This data is part of a long-term project by the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia to monitor avian influenza.

Dan Gunderson | MPR News

"It tells us whether or not they have the antibodies to the virus, she explained. They carry it or just have the antibodies from past infections.

Fojtik is a Research Professional with the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia.

She travels the Mississippi flyway collecting waterfowl samples. The project was been collecting samples since 1998, and annually in Minnesota since 2005, amassing a huge collection of data on the multitude of flu viruses that co-evolved with waterfowl over millennia.

"We track low pathogenic avian influenza viruses so we can see what naturally occurs in the populations, explained Fojtik. Trying to establish the normal trend of flu and then we see if something changes, if something is different."

So the swabs and blood samples collected here in northern Minnesota will not only help track the risk from the current deadly avian influenza virus, but also help provide context, allowing scientists see the big picture of how these ever-present viruses in waterfowl are changing.

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Ducks offer clues to avian influenza risk - MPR News

As the change in seasons ushers in cooler weather, it also means the start of flu season. How long flu season lasts can vary but typically begins in November and lasts well into March or early April.

Here we cover common flu symptoms, possible side effects, vaccine recommendations and answers to common flu-related questions.

When we talk about the flu (and the vaccine), we refer to the illness caused by the influenza virus. Influenza is a respiratory virus not to be confused with gastrointestinal bugs that are often called the "stomach flu." The most common flu symptoms include:

A person is definitely considered contagious when symptoms are present, but they can potentially spread the flu even before they notice symptoms.

Each year, flu vaccines are created based on predictions of what flu strains may be present in the coming flu season. While these vaccines are very effective, they're not always a 100% match.

"Predicting what the flu season will bring is always a gamble," says Stephen Mohring, MD, Nebraska Medicine primary care physician. "As the COVID-19 pandemic transitions especially as wearing masks and practicing social distancing are less utilized we are concerned that we could see a more significant flu season this year. We recommend vaccination to protect yourself and your loved ones."

Once you are vaccinated, you gain the full amount of protection after two weeks. Receiving the vaccine reduces your chance of getting the flu, the severity of symptoms, and the risk of spreading the virus to others.

Flu shots are most effective in people under the age of 65. For those over 65, the vaccine significantly reduces the risk of serious illness, helps keep more people out of the hospital and reduces influenza deaths.

There is an egg-free vaccine available for those with an egg allergy. If your allergy is mild, you can safely receive the regular vaccine. If you have a severe allergy, talk to your doctor about receiving the egg-free version.

The vaccine contains elements of the dead influenza virus so the immune system can respond to those specific proteins to make antibodies. When the immune system sees the virus in the future, it ramps up the antibody response to kill it quicker.

The flu shot is available now at local pharmacies and Nebraska Medicine clinic locations through early spring. Our recommendation is to get it sooner than later.

"The best time to get the flu shot is when the flu shot is available," says Dr. Mohring. There is a two-week time span between vaccination and full protection. Therefore, we recommend getting it in the fall before we start seeing numerous patients getting sick."

Rest assured, it is safe to get the COVID-19 vaccine or booster at the same time as your flu vaccination.

You cannot get the flu from the flu shot, but you may experience mild side effects. It's common to feel tenderness at the injection site or mild symptoms for a day or two afterward.

When you experience mild symptoms, remember that your immune system is doing what it is designed to do: reacting to a foreign antigen and triggering the production of antibodies that will fight the flu in the future.

Common side effects include:

Doctor's advice? Think about the timing of your flu shot. Plan it around your life events just in case you feel a few side effects afterward.

Patients with a suppressed immune system should consult their doctor to discuss their best options. Those with a history of Guillain-Barre syndrome, certain autoimmune disorders and those who are sick should avoid getting the flu vaccine.

The symptoms can be challenging to tell apart. If your symptoms last for more than a day or two, perform an at-home COVID-19 test or arrange to get tested. If your symptoms include a fever and body aches, reach out to your doctor.

If you get sick with the flu (even if you've been vaccinated), call your doctor within 24 to 48 hours. Tamiflu is still available as a treatment option and must start within the first few days of symptoms. Wait 24 hours after you are fever free before returning to school or work. Keep yourself and others healthy by practicing healthy habits to prevent flu and colds all season.

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Flu season is here: Symptoms, shots and side effects - Nebraska Medicine

Maharashtra has been witnessing a spike in Swine flu cases of late. According to the data from the state health department, nearly 3,000 cases of H1N1 flu and 147 deaths have been reported till the end of August the highest surge in Swine flu cases in the last three years, in the state.

First detected in the US in April 2009, the virus was a hybrid of swine, avian and human strains. Medically, this disease is referred to as Influenza A or H1N1 flu. It spread through the world within six months and has been infecting people since then.

Dr Maharshi Desai, Head, General Medicine Department, Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad says, it is not easy to differentiate between a normal seasonal flu and H1N1 and they can look similar to the common cold. However, One way to differentiate between the two would be the temperature of the fever(>38 * C). Severe exhaustion, weakness, bodyache and headache are more common is Swine flu while sneezing, sore throat and stuffy nose is more common in common cold.

Precautions

People who suspect that they are infected with Swine flu should quarantine themselves indoors and avoid coming in contact with people as the virus spreads the same way that seasonal flu (cold) spreads via air. Flu viruses are spread mainly by aerosols that infected people produce when they cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby and are then inhaled into the lungs, creating a transmission chain of the virus.

Dr Sunil Jain, head of department, Medical Emergency Services, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai advises people to quarantine as it can stop the spread of the virus. He says, We suggest quarantining for five to seven days. After that, the virus is mostly dead.

Vaccine

There is no specific treatment for Swine flu and it is not required either unless in case of extremely severe conditions. In most cases, your doctor can tell if you have the flu by your history and symptoms. Dr Anita Mathew, Infectious Disease Specialist, Fortis Hospital, Mumbai says, This virus can sometimes prove to be fatal for specific populations like the elderly, asthmatics or those who are immunocompromised.

A H1N1 vaccine already exists and is the most effective way to reduce the chance of getting infected. Dr Maharshi Desai, head, General Medicine Department, Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad says, People who get this vaccine have a lower chance of illness and death compared to people who are not vaccinated. Because the influenza virus mutates slightly from year to year, you need a new vaccine dose every year, before each flu season. Children, elderly, patients with lung problems, chronic diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease, people infected with HIV infection and pregnant women will benefit the most from getting the booster dose.

Jain adds, There are a few cases where people have reported of side effects, but like the Covid-19 vaccines, taking this vaccine is needed, as it will limit the spread and the severity of the infection, if you get affected.

Swine flu symptoms to keep an eye out for:

Fever

Cough

Sore throat

Chills

Weakness

Body aches

Headache

Diarrhoea

Nausea and vomiting

Shortness of breath

Fatigue

Recommended foods to eat:

Vitamin C rich foods: lemon, oranges, kiwis, spinach, broccoli

Vitamin D rich foods: fatty fish, egg yolks, cheese, red meat

Leafy green vegetables

Foods high in protein

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Explainer: Everything you need to know about Swine flu - Hindustan Times

Sep 21, 2022 8:00 AM

Author: University of Utah Health Communications

Informacin en espaol

Each year, the flu vaccine is updated because the influenza virus is constantly evolving. Influenza is monitored across the world to help create a better vaccine and, ultimately, better protect people. This is the same idea behind the new, FDA-approved COVID-19 boosters.

These updated boosters are intended to provide optimal protection against current strains of the virus. The new boosters contain an updated bivalent formula that both boosts immunity against the original coronavirus strain and protects against the newer Omicron variants causing most COVID-19 cases today.

The CDC recommends that everyone receive an updated booster as soon as they are eligible. One reason is because a surge in COVID-19 cases typically happens during the fall and winter. During these seasons, colder weather drives people indoors, increasing transmission of the virus from person to person. An updated booster will better protect you from the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron lineages that are predicted to continue circulating in the coming months.

The updated COVID-19 boosters by Pfizer-BioNTech (available for people ages 12 and older) and Moderna (available for people ages 18 and older) are free and readily available in retail pharmacies and local health departments throughout the U.S. You can find a vaccine provider near you by visitingvaccines.gov or calling 1-800-232-0233.

You should get the booster at least two months after your last COVID-19 shotwhether it has been two months since your last booster dose or since completing the primary vaccination series. You can use this online tool to find out when to get your booster.

For people ages 12 and older, the updated booster replaces the original (monovalent) booster. Children ages 5 to 11 can still receive the original booster.

The CDC recommends getting the updated booster for added protection, even if youve had COVID-19. This is because natural immunity varies from person to person and wanes over time. It is recommended that you receive a booster dose three months after testing positive for the virus.

The CDC has updatedCOVID-19 vaccine and booster shot recommendations for people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised (see CDC list for qualifying medical conditions). You can use this online tool to find out when to get your booster. However, it is recommended that you talk to your specialty provider first to determine if an additional dose or booster shot is needed at this time.

Multiple studies have shown that COVID-19 vaccination works well to prevent the worst outcomes from the disease: severe illness, hospitalization, and death. These studies also show that protection from the vaccine wanes over time. Thats why some people who have been vaccinated still get mild to moderate COVID-19.

However, studies also show that boosters increase our immune response and provide additional protection against the disease. There is also evidence that updated boosters customized to protect against newer virus variants provide even better protection against COVID-19 than the original boosters. Public health officials wont fully know how well the new updated boosters work until they can measure how well people are protected against currently circulating virus variants.

Similar to getting an annual flu shot, its expected that we may periodically need new COVID-19 boosters that are tailored to protect against the virus causing most COVID-19 cases at that time.

Staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccines and boosters is the safest and best way to restore protection that has decreased since previous vaccinations, providing better protection against newer variants.

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Updated Boosters Are Optimized to Better Protect Against Newer COVID-19 Variants - University of Utah Health Care

While humans worry about the impending threats of COVID-19 and monkeypox, seals in the northeastern United States might have a different virus to worry about: bird flu. The marine mammals have come down this summer with a new strain of H5N1, which is believed to have spilled over to them from birds.

The disease has led to a population-scale outbreak that has led to the biggest mortality event in mammals caused by the new bird flu virus, indicating that even marine life can be affected by diseases from land animals. Researchers at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University report on the outbreak in a new preprint.

Though scientists hoped that the H5N1 outbreak from this past spring would mimic the December 2014 outbreak that nearly disappeared within six months, this latest spread raged on over the summer. This outbreak, according to a Nature article published in August 2022, has spanned the U.S., resulting in almost 400,000 dead wild birds and causing massive damage to domestic poultry farming.

As outbreaks have continued to escalate over the past year, concerns have been raised over the potential impact on birds migrating south for winter. However, one of the greatest concerns regarding the most recent outbreak is the spillover of the bird flu to marine mammals. The first wave of H5N1 infections peaked in March 2022 mainly impacted raptors; the second wave began in June in gulls and marked the spillover into marine mammalian life, specifically seals. The preprint hypothesizes that the infections in seals may have been associated with ecological interactions between seals and birds. The bird flu may also have spread to seals from dead birds, bird feces, or seal-to-seal infections.

While mammals have usually been considered dead-end hosts that do not further spread infection, the preprint reports explained, it is currently unclear if the marine mammal spillover will also be a dead-end transmission event based on the wider extent of new infections. The spread of H5N1 via wild birds and now seals cannot be controlled because they are highly mobile populations, resulting in the future potential for new strains of the virus to emerge that can threaten other mammalian life, including humans. With the potential threat of zoonotic spillover, where disease spreads from wild animals to human beings, the scientific community remains on alert regarding new viruses that are challenging to both predict and control.

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Bite-Size Science: A pandemic of the animal kingdom? Bird flu outbreak spreads to marine mammal populations - Tufts Daily

AMA Update covers a range of health care topics affecting the lives of physicians, residents, medical students and patients. From private practice and health system leaders to scientists and public health officials, hear from the experts inmedicineon COVID-19, monkeypox, medical education, advocacy issues, burnout, vaccines and more.

Featured topic and speakers

In todays AMA Update, AMA Vice President of Science, Medicine and Public Health Andrea Garcia, JD, MPH, discusses preparing for flu season, changes to CDC's TPOXX guidance, as well as the latest data and findings from new physician burnout research study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. AMA Chief Experience Officer Todd Unger hosts.

Read more about the AMA, Mayo Clinic, and Stanford Medicine research findings on physician burnout.

Learn how the AMA is #FightingForDocs and access resources from the AMA Recovery Plan for Americas Physicians.

Visit AMA's monkeypox resource center.

Learn more at the AMA COVID-19 resource center.

Unger: Hello and welcome to the AMA Update video and podcast, an ongoing series covering a range of health care topics affecting the lives of physicians and patients. Today, we have our weekly look at the headlines with the AMA's Vice President of Science, Medicine and Public Health, Andrea Garcia, in Chicago. I'm Todd Unger, AMA's chief experience officer also in Chicago. Welcome back, Andrea.

Garcia: Thanks. It's good to be here.

Unger: Well, let's start off by talking about Omicron boosters. They've been out now for about two weeks. I got mine. Any data on how the response has been at this point?

Garcia: Well, we know the Biden administration bought 171 million doses of the new bivalent vaccines. And that millions of those doses have been shipped and arrived within the last two weeks in pharmacies, nursing homes and in clinics across the country. But federal data on how many shots of the updated booster doses have been administered is not yet available.

According to The New York Times, early numbers from some states and several cities showed what health officials are describing as a robust early response. So if you look at California, they've administered about 397,000 doses. In Texas, about 116,000 people got the new booster in a few days. And clinicians in Illinois had administered at least 137,900 shots.

I think, with that being said, others have called this rollout muted as the new shots have been barely noticed by some people. So we still have our work cut out for us.

Unger: Well, let's unmute that. Why don't you remind folks why it is so important to get the booster right now?

Garcia: So these updated COVID boosters can both help restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination and provide broader protection against the new variants. The U.S. COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the U.S. continue to reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death. And now that much of the population has stopped masking and quarantining, these boosters are our best defense against COVID-19 and the variants that are currently circulating in our communities.

Although people may be getting weary of getting shots, the administration has indicated that they expect COVID-19 shots will be administered annually, similar to a flu shot. And they're urging everyone 12 and older to receive the updated booster as soon as they are able to.

Unger: And get your flu shot at the same time in time to prepare for the fall right now. How are the COVID numbers looking this week?

Garcia: Overall, it's good news. We're seeing cases continuing to fall in nearly every state. If you look at The New York Times, less than 62,000 COVID cases are being reported daily. That's the lowest level since early May. And it's almost a 30% decrease than from two weeks ago.

Many areas are showing significant declines. And over a dozen states and territories have seen cases go down by 40% or more since the start of September.

Unger: And how about on the hospitalization and on deaths?

Garcia: There's been a sustained improvement in hospitalizations. We're looking at about less than 33,000 people in U.S. hospitals with COVID every day. That's down about 12% over the past two weeks.

And the average daily deaths due to COVID is around 426. That's a 13% decrease from two weeks ago. And while we know the number of deaths is unacceptable, this number is much lower than a year ago at this time when Delta was causing around 2,000 deaths per day.

Unger: Well, I want to take a little time and discuss a piece of news that came out last week that relates to physicians. And we know physicians have been taking care of this nation, its patients for the past two and a half years. And that has taken a toll on them.

This new study shows some interesting numbers about burnout that, I guess, people wouldn't be surprised to hear. Tell us more about that.

Garcia: Yeah, so those findings were really pretty dramatic. And it's a new study conducted by researchers from the AMA, the Mayo Clinic, Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of Colorado School of Medicine. And it found that the physician burnout rate spiked during the first two years of the pandemic, hitting an all-time high.

That data was gathered from a survey of nearly 2,500 U.S. physicians. It found the overall physician burnout rate was almost 63% in 2021. If we compare that to the number in prior years, it was 38.2% in 2020, 43.9% in 2017 and 54.4% in 2014. So these trends were consistent across nearly all specialties. And that spike came just after a six-year period of a decline in burnout.

Unger: And that's really important when you think about that trend. A lot of work by the AMA and partners out there to shine a spotlight on physician burnout and really address some of the systemic factors that are really at the root cause. But then something like the pandemic comes in and we see this really dramatic increase. What else did the survey have to tell us?

Garcia: The survey also looked at personal fulfillment scores, which also fell, with only 57.5% of physicians indicating that they would choose to become a doctor again. And that dropped from more than 72% in 2020. In a statement, AMA President Dr. Jack Resneck said that the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic are hopefully behind us. And there is an urgent need to attend to physicians who put everything into our nation's COVID-19 response, too often, at the expense of their own well-being.

Unger: And that really is at the foundation of the AMA's Recovery Plan for America's Physicians. It's recognizing that after two and a half years of serving this nation's patients, it's time to take care of our physicians and the key issues that are affecting them and driving these record levels of burnout. Turning now to other diseases that continue to make headlines, the CDC has issued new guidance on a monkeypox treatment. What do we need to know about that, Andrea?

Garcia: Yeah, so CDC, last week, issued new guidance on TPOXX, which is the antiviral that is being made available through an expanded access investigational new drug protocol to treat monkeypox. And the agency is recommending that this treatment be limited to people at high risk for severe disease. This CDC decision is a result of recent data from the FDA, which suggests that broad use of TPOXX could promote resistance and render those antivirals ineffective for some patients.

According to the CDC's recommendation, TPOXX should be reserved for people with severely weakened immune systems. So think of those with HIV that is not controlled, people with leukemia, lymphoma or those who've had solid organ transplants, as well as people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, children under age eight. And people within that is vulnerable to injury.

Unger: Well, for the last several weeks, we've been talking about the monkeypox numbers. I think the story there was still more cases than we hope. But, hopefully, the rate of the outbreak seem to be declining. Is that still where we are?

Garcia: Yeah, so the CDC is indicating there are about 24,000 reported cases of monkeypox in the U.S. since the outbreak began. That rate of new cases has been declining for weeks and is showing signs of plateauing. I think it's unfortunate that last week, we saw the first death due to monkeypox, which was a case in LA County.

We know that deaths from monkeypox are rare. But they can occur among vulnerable groups, such as babies, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems, like we just talked about. The patient who died was severely immunocompromised and had been hospitalized prior to death.

Unger: Well, we're also on the verge of entering flu season. It's going to be a little bit different this year. Many people back to work, out on public transportation, maybe not wearing a mask. What do people need to be thinking about when it comes to the flu? And what we can expect this season?

Garcia: Yeah, I mean, I think the concern here is we may be more susceptible to the flu virus than in past years and that's for a number of reasons. Flu activity tends to ramp up starting in October, though we know according to New York Times and other data that the virus has already been circulating this month in Texas, New Mexico, Delaware and Georgia. We know the Southern Hemisphere, which is finishing up its flu season, has seen a lot of flu this year. And that's typically an indicator of what we can expect for our flu season.

And this year could be worse because of COVID restrictions. As you mentioned, people aren't wearing masks like they were before. And those measures we take to protect us from COVID also prevent the spread of flu.

So we could be seeing people travel more than they did over the past two years. And people's immune system, they haven't been exposed to the flu virus in a while. So that can make them more susceptible as well.

Unger: Well, I know of one really effective way to help protect yourself and your families this fall and winter. I'll bet you're going to tell me what that is.

Garcia: Yeah and much of this is the same as the advice we always give, which is get your flu shot. Even in years when the vaccine does not match well against the circulating strain, it's still important. It protects people against serious illness and complications. It's our best defense.

This year, you can get your flu shot and COVID booster at the same time. And many experts are still recommending wearing a mask when you're in a crowded indoor space. And, of course, wash your hands regularly.

I think people may want to stock up on at-home COVID tests. We know that flu and COVID symptoms can be similar. It will be important to determine which you have if you become sick so you can follow that recommended isolation guidance. And you also may be eligible for treatments, like Paxlovid for COVID or Tamiflu for influenza. I think the bottom line message, regardless of what you have here, is get vaccinated and stay home if you're sick.

Unger: Well, just in closing, just want to highlight some important news on the advocacy front, including some big news from areas of the AMA's Recovery Plan for America's Physicians that we mentioned earlier in the segment. What news do we have there?

Garcia: For one, last week, a group of 375 employers and health groups, including AMA, Amazon, the American Nurses Association, Google and Walmart, sent a letter to the Senate, urging lawmakers to continue COVID-19 era telehealth flexibilities for another two years. And there was also some movement on a bill to streamline prior authorization requirements. The measure will now move to the Senate for a vote. And health care advocates are hoping it will pass by the end of the year.

Unger: So that's great news. Two very important pillars of the recovery plan that you just talked there about supporting telehealth and, of course, prior authorization. We'll hear more about that when we talk to Jason Marino, the AMA's director of Congressional affairs, next week. We'll be back soon with another AMA Update. And you can find all our videos and podcasts at ama-assn.org/podcasts. Thanks for joining us today and please take care.

Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this video are those of the participants and/or do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the AMA.

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Flu shot, COVID boosters, TPOXX treatments and more with Andrea Garcia, JD, MPH - American Medical Association

An outbreak of flu is feared by top health experts to happen in the UK this Winter. Drawing from a sharp wave of cases in Australia during their winter, a record 35 million people are currently eligible to have a flu jab, reports The Express.

Professor Robert Booy, an infectious diseases expert at Sydney University, said many viruses had made a comeback during Australias winter, from June to August. He warned: You can be quite sure the UK is going to get at least a moderate, and potentially a severe respiratory viral season.

It will be dominated by flu and Covid but also include other viruses. You need to be preparing now.

There were almost no UK flu cases in the last two years, as Covid measures including lockdowns subdued other viruses. However, that means immunity is likely to be low, leaving people more vulnerable and the NHS struggling even more than it already is.

Read more: Covid Winter booster: Who is eligible as autumn jab programme rolls out and how to book

More than 223,000 flu cases were reported in Australia this year. They included 295 deaths and 1,763 hospital admissions. In 2021, only 512 cases were recorded. There were no deaths.

Prof Booy said: Flu came early this year, which was unusual, and it peaked quickly, then went away fast. Whereas previously it had been spread over three months, this time it was more like six to eight weeks. That was because we think a lot of viruses came back this year.

All these viruses were spreading like crazy and competing with each other, so the combination of all of them led to a bad respiratory season.

Prof Booy said immunity had fallen, particularly among children aged one to three never exposed to flu. The elderly also face increased risk through not being around the virus for a couple of years.

Prof Booy said: We dont have optimal rates of immunisation in young children or the elderly. We could do better, in the UK and here.

Flu jabs are being offered to a record number of people in the UK this year, including over-50s, healthcare staff, carers and mothers-to-be. There are fears even a moderate wave of respiratory infections could hit the struggling NHS.

The service did not have its usual summer respite and there has been record pressure on ambulances and A&E departments in recent months. Prof Booy said Australia experienced real pressure on its health system, prompting many regions to offer free flu jabs to all ages.

Read more: Cambs couple 'reluctant' to return to KFC after finding 'bloody chicken' in bargain bucket

He said vulnerable people should take simple, common sense measures, such as wearing a mask, keeping their distance, cutting the number of social guests and moving events outside. Gary McLean, a molecular immunology professor at London Metropolitan University, said there was no better time to have the annual flu jab and the Covid booster.

He added: We look to the southern hemisphere to predict what the northern hemisphere influenza season might be and what dominant strains of the virus are circulating. With the predicted rise in Covid cases also occurring, we are likely in for a bad winter in terms of respiratory virus infections.

Professor of medicine Paul Hunter, of the University of East Anglia, warned there may be a big peak in infections and many people getting quite sick. The health protection expert added: Many people may not have had flu for five years. Taking up the flu jab if offered is the best thing you can do to protect yourself this winter from this infection.

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Record flu surge predicted this winter as health experts urge people to get their shots - Cambridgeshire Live