Category: Flu Virus

While many New Yorkers this summer have returned to activities and gatherings reminiscent of pre-pandemic times, COVID-19 is still sickening and killing far more residents than another virus - the flu - did before March 2020, according to state and federal health agencies.

About 10 to 20 New Yorkers are still dying daily from COVID-19, and thousands more are currently hospitalized with the disease, according to the most recent data from the state Department of Health (DOH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The state COVID-19 online tracker does not provide easily accessible daily, weekly or monthly death counts, only a total number of deaths by county, and other demographic data, since 2020. But according to the CDC, nearly 11,000 deaths in New York so far this year are listed as "involving COVID-19." More than 23,500 people died with a coronavirus diagnosis last year, according to federal data that breaks numbers out by New York City and outside the city.

The state's dashboard shows 2,538 New Yorkers were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Monday.

Just 54 people were hospitalized with the flu during the week ending June 25, the most recent influenza report available from the state DOH.

In the Capital Region alone, there are nearly 100 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, state data shows.

"Doctors and scientists are working to estimate the mortality rate of COVID-19, but at present, it is thought to be substantially higher (possibly 10 times or more) than that of most strains of the flu," Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said in an email.

"New Yorkers have worked hard to keep each other safe from COVID-19, and as we approach the fall, we must continue to use the tools at our disposal to prepare for any potential surges," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Tuesday. "Make sure you and your loved ones are up to date on the vaccine and booster doses. Get tested if you have symptoms, and if you do test positive, talk to your doctor about potential treatment."

Still, the virus is less lethal than it was at the start of the pandemic. At this point, most New Yorkers have some level of immunity -- either through vaccination or previous infection -- and there are several therapeutic treatments available in cases of severe infection, resulting in fewer deaths.

Close to 80 percent of all New Yorkers have completed a vaccine series, according to the CDC.

But since May, hospitalizations -- and deaths -- have plateaued at an elevated level that has some epidemiologists concerned.

"In addition, we still have a lot of COVID circulating in the community, and are currently at CDC designated 'medium' level classification," Whalen said. "In these circumstances, I would urge awareness to make best decisions on preventive actions."

Actual flu and COVID-19 levels are difficult to determine since milder cases of both illnesses are widely unreported.

Facilities are no longer federally required to report negative lab test results, so cases per 100,000 data is a more reliable metric to measure virus impact on a community than percent positivity, according to New York health officials.

COVID-19 cases are also greatly underreported due to the availability of at-home tests.

Hospitalization and death trends are the clearest indicators that COVID-19 is still a threat.

Nearly all who die of COVID-19 are elderly or have comorbidities, state and local health officials said. But while masking and social distancing appear to have dramatically curbed transmission of the flu, reducing flu-related deaths to historic lows, even in the winter, COVID-19 continues to multiply and mutate.

The latest omicron variant BA.5, which now represents more than 95 percent of the viruses in circulation, is also highly transmissible and has been bypassing vaccine immunity, according to health experts.

A new vaccine authorized in the United Kingdom targets two omicron variants and is expected to be authorized in the U.S. this fall.

County health officials continue to encourage community members to get booster shots as they become eligible and anticipate there will be further guidance from state and federal health agencies when the variant vaccines are approved.

Protection provided by the current vaccine against symptomatic infection and transmission is less than its effectiveness against severe disease, vaccine protection can diminish over time, and currently circulating variants are able to better evade the immune system," Saratoga County Health Commissioner Daniel Kuhles said via email. "For these reasons, it is important for individuals to stay up to date with their immunizations, especially as new vaccines become available.

Link:

COVID-19 still a factor in almost 11K deaths in N.Y. this year - Times Union

Hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients before and after SARS-CoV-2 vaccine availability had significantly higher odds of venousbut not arterialthromboembolism than those hospitalized for influenza before the pandemic, finds a study published today in JAMA.

A team led by University of Pennsylvania researchers retrospectively studied rates of venous thromboembolism (blood clot in a vein) and arterial thromboembolism (blood clot in an artery) in 41,443 COVID-19 patients hospitalized before the vaccine rollout (April to November 2020), 44,194 COVID-19 patients admitted after vaccines became available (December 2020 to May 2021), and 8,269 patients hospitalized with the flu from October 2018 to April 2019.

Thromboembolism can cause blockage of a blood vessel and thus can be severe.

Death rates were collected through Aug 28, 2019, for flu patients and through Sep 28, 2021, for COVID-19 patients. Data were derived from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Sentinel System. Average age of all patients was 72 years.

The absolute risk of venous thromboembolism by 90 days was 5.3% in flu patients, versus 9.5% in COVID-19 patients before vaccines (risk difference, 4.1 percentage points) and 10.9% after (risk difference, 5.5 percentage points).

Relative to flu patients, the risk of venous thromboembolism was significantly greater among COVID-19 patients both before (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.60) and after (aHR, 1.89) vaccine availabilitya 60% and 89% higher risk, respectively.

In both flu and COVID-19 patients, the risk of venous thromboembolism by 90 days was greater for patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) or who needed mechanical ventilation or had a previous venous thromboembolism.

After adjustment, the risk of venous thromboembolism was significantly elevated in COVID-19 patients both before (aHR, 1.60) and after (aHR, 1.89) vaccine availability. The risks were similar for venous thromboembolism with an emergency department (ED) or hospital release diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs), or venous thrombosis of medical devices, implants, or grafts in COVID-19 patients before (aHR, 1.57) and after (aHR, 1.84) the vaccine rollout.

Relative to flu patients with no previous venous clots, COVID-19 patients with no history of venous thromboembolism were at significantly higher risk for the clots both before (aHR, 1.77) and after (aHR, 2.09) vaccine availability.

Compared with flu patients with a history of venous clots, COVID-19 patients with previous venous clots were not at significantly higher risk for subsequent venous thromboembolism before vaccine availability (aHR, 1.22) but were after the rollout (aHR, 1.42). Relative to flu patients, 30-day all-cause death rates after an inpatient venous thromboembolism in COVID-19 patients were elevated both before (aHR, 2.96) and after (aHR, 3.80) the vaccine rollout.

In addition to male sex and older age, risk factors for venous thromboembolism in both vaccine periods included antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (clot-promoting disorder), cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, previous venous thromboembolism, inherited thrombophilia, obesity, pregnancy, thrombocytosis, and recent outpatient use of a blood thinner.

The absolute risk of arterial thromboembolism by 90 days, in contrast, was 14.4% in flu patients, compared with 15.8% in COVID-19 patients before vaccine availability (risk difference, 1.4%) and 16.3% in COVID-19 patients after the vaccine rollout (risk difference, 1.9%). Relative to flu patients, the risk of arterial thromboembolism wasn't significantly greater among COVID-19 patients before vaccine availability (aHR, 1.04) and after (aHR, 1.07).

The risk of arterial thromboembolism with an ED or hospital release diagnosis of heart attack, ischemic stroke, chest pain, transient ischemic attack (mini stroke), or peripheral artery disease in COVID-19 patients was comparable before (aHR, 1.02) and after (aHR, 1.03) the vaccine rollout.

Among patients with cardiovascular disease and relative to flu patients, the risk of arterial thromboembolism was significantly greater among COVID-19 patients before (aHR, 1.10) and after (aHR, 1.13). Relative to flu patients, COVID-19 patients who had arterial thrombosis were more likely to die before (aHR, 3.45) and after (aHR, 3.45) vaccine availability.

In all groups, the 90-day risk of arterial thromboembolism was significantly greater in older patients, men, and those who were admitted to an ICU, needed mechanical ventilation, or were previously diagnosed as having cardiovascular disease.

The researchers said that the elevated risk of venous thromboembolism in COVID-19 patients could be due to virus-induced inflammation and blood-clotting abnormalities.

"Alternatively, heightened awareness of thrombosis with COVID-19 might have led to a greater ascertainment of events in patients with COVID-19 after case series published early in the pandemic reported high rates of these complications," they wrote. "However, no association between COVID-19 and arterial thromboembolism was observed, which might be subject to similarly increased event ascertainment."

The increased risk of death among COVID-19 patients may have been due to higher rates of thromboses that contributed to organ failure or multisystem injury, the authors said. "However, data regarding the severity of the thrombotic events were not available in this study," they wrote. "Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms for this observation."

Continue reading here:

Higher risk of vein blood clots in COVID vs flu patients - CIDRAP

Collage of various newspaper headlines related to the previous year's influenza pandemic, Chicago, ... [+] Illinois, 1919. Headlines include 'Police Raid Saloons in War on Influenza,' 'Flu Curfew to Sound for City Saturday Night,' and 'Open-Face Sneezers to Be Arrested.' The image was originally published in 'A Report on an Epidemic of Influenza in the City of Chicago in the Fall of 1918' by the city's Department of Health. (Photo by Chicago History Museum/Getty Images)

With all the controversy about gain-of-function research and all the concerns about how dangerous it is, you might think that scientists have stopped doing that kind of work.

Well, no.

In the latest news, a team of scientists in Canada and the U.S. report that they have re-created the 1918 influenza virus and used it to infect macaques. Lets be clear here: the 1918 flu vanished from the Earth, long ago. Its simply not a threat, or it least it wasnt, until someone figured out a way to bring it back.

Why would anyone do this? Ill get to that, but first a little background.

The 1918 flu pandemic was the worst plague since the Black Death, which occured in the mid-14th century. During World War I, a new flu virus swept the planet, killing upwards of 50 million people. It probably infected a third of the entire world population at the time.

Since Covid-19 appeared, the 1918 flu pandemic has been cited often (sometimes called the Spanish flu), usually to compare or constrast it with Covid-19. Sure, Covid is bad, but at least its not as bad as what the world experienced in 1918.

About 20 years ago, a small team of researchers led by Jeffery Taubenberger and Ann Reid figured out how to sequence the genome of the 1918 flu. In a series of papers spread over six years, they described how they recovered pieces of the flu virus from human samples that had been frozen for nearly 100 years, including corpses buried in the permafrost of Siberia and Alaska. In 2005, they reported the complete sequence in the journal Nature. Their main discovery was that the 1918 flu had originally been a bird flu, which jumped into humans sometime before 1918. Taubenberger and others, including Adolfo Garcia-Sastre at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, also re-constructed live viruses and tested them on mice, that same year. Not surprisingly, the mice died.

It didnt take long before gain-of-function researchers said hey, why dont we reconstruct the flu virus and see what happens in primates? The tools of modern genetics make it possible to reconstruct a virus from scratch, using just the sequence.

In 2007, only two years after the 1918 flu sequence was completely decoded, influenza researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka at the University of Tokyo and the University of Wisconsin described, in a paper in Nature, how he and his colleagues used the sequence to create live, infectious 1918 flu viruses. To test them on more human-like subjects, they infected 7 macaques with them. Not surprisingly, the macaques got severely ill, and the scientists eventually euthanized all of them.

(Insiders may recognize Kawaokas name: he and Dutch scientist Ron Fouchier are widely known for their gain-of-function research that aimed to give deadly bird flu the ability to infect mammals. Ive called them out on this in the past, and Ive openly asked why NIH was funding this work.)

In the new paper, a team of researchers at the Public Health Agency of Canada, the University of Manitoba, and Oregon Health & Science University re-created the 1918 flu virus again, and infected 15 macaques. This time they used more realistic doses, and the macaques didnt get so sick, suffering only mild or moderate disease. Maybe macaques are not ideal for the development and testing of novel pandemic influenza-specific vaccines and therapies, they concluded.

So lets review: flu scientists have been using the sequence of a long-vanished, extremely deadly virus to reconstitute the virus and infect animals, and then observe how sick they get. (Kawaoka did it a second time, in a study published in 2019.)

Why do they do it? All of the papers give essentially the same reason: these experiments, they say, will help us develop animal models in which we can test vaccines. These same justifications have been used for decades, but flu vaccines havent improved one whit, as far as I can tell.

But hold on a minute! Even if you accept their argument that infecting macaques and other animals with influenza virus will help develop better vaccines, why use the 1918 influenza virus at all?

They dont answer that question, because there really is no good answer. The fact is that the experiments will be more relevant if they use currently circulating flu strainsbecause those are the strains that we need vaccines against.

I imagine that the scientists doing this work truly believe the arguments they make, about how their work will help design better vaccines and therapies. But theyve been making similar arguments for decades, and it just hasnt played out that way.

The 1918 flu disappeared long ago, and theres no way it could possibly re-appear naturally. Theres only one way that the 1918 flu becomes a threat to human health again: through a lab leak. Re-creating the virus in a lab makes that possible.

Were still trying to figure out if Covid-19 had a natural origin or whether it started as a lab leak. Even if it turns out to have a natural source, the intense discussions about the lab leak hypothesis have been useful, because they made it clear that lab leaks happen, and that they should be considered a genuine risk.

In recognition of this risk, scientists and non-scientists alike have called for a worldwide ban on gain-of-function research. That hasnt happened yet, although NIH has issued a carefully worded statement about the kinds of work that it supports.

Most of the recent controversy over gain-of-function research has focused on research that makes viruses more deadly. I hope its clear that re-creating a deadly virus from scratch is another form of gain-of-function research, one that carries equally great risks with little or no potential benefit. We should put a halt to both types of work.

Theres an easy way to eliminate the risk that a lab leak might release the 1918 influenza virus into the human population: stop re-creating the virus. The 1918 flu disappeared from the natural world long agoor to be more precise, it evolved into a much, much milder form of influenza. The deadly form that was recently re-created in several labs does not exist in nature today. Lets keep it that way.

Here is the original post:

Scientists Have Re-Created The Deadly 1918 Flu Virus. Why? - Forbes

Drugmaker Genentech announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its flu drug Xofluza for children ages 5 to 12.

The FDA greenlighted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Xofluza (baloxavir marboxil) for the treatment of acute uncomplicated influenza in otherwise healthy children who have been symptomatic for no more than 48 hours, according to astatement released last week by the company. Xofluza is the first single-dose oral influenza medicine thats been approved for children in this age group.

Additionally, the FDA approved Xofluza to help prevent influenza in children in this age group following contact with someone with the flu.

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, influenza continues to be a threat to public health, and effective influenza antivirals remain critical to alleviating the burden on healthcare systems, said Levi Garraway, MD, PhD, chief medical officer and head of global product development at Genentech, in the release. Xofluza has proven to be an important tool in fighting and preventing influenza in adults as well as adolescents, and we are pleased to now offer households and younger children our single-dose oral treatment.

Xofluza is an important tool because it is a single dose and has been effective at decreasing the symptoms of influenza, says Amesh A. Adalja MD,senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore. Having multiple antiviral options is always a good thing for any infection, he adds.

The FDA approval is based on results from two Phase 3 studies, miniSTONE-2 and BLOCKSTONE. MiniSTONE-2 evaluated Xofluza compared with oseltamivir in otherwise healthy children and included patients age 5 toless than 12 years with an influenza infection and displaying influenza symptoms for no more than 48 hours.

BLOCKSTONE evaluated Xofluza compared with placebo as a preventive treatment for household members (adults and children) who were living with someone with influenza.

Adverse events reported in at least 5 percent of the participants (5 to 11 years old) were vomiting (5 percent) and diarrhea (5 percent).

In October 2018, the flu drug was approved for use in people over the age of 12, making it the first anti-flu medication to gain approval in nearly 20 years.

In the clinical trials in adults that were the basis for the drugs fast-tracked approval, Xofluza reduced flu symptoms by a little more than a day in healthy patients over the age of 12. In clinical trials, Xofluza shortened the duration of the flu by about 24 hours if its given within the first 48 hours of the onset of symptoms.

That is similar to the efficacy of Tamiflu, another drug used to treat the flu, according to theCleveland Clinic. However, Xofluza is administered in a single dose as opposed to the 5 days of therapy that Tamiflu requires.

In November 2020, the FDA expanded its approval, adding an indication for Xofluza to treat post-exposure prevention of the flu for people 12 and older after contact with someone with the flu.

Xofluza works via a different mechanism of action than other available anti-flu drugs, according to the drugs fact sheet. Once the flu virus gets into your system, it reproduces over and over and then spreads throughout your body. Xofluza inhibits polymerase acidic endonuclease, the enzyme that allows the virus to reproduce, which is earlier in the disease process than other flu medications.

During the 20212022 flu season,flu activity in the United States was lower than pre-pandemic levels despite increased reporting and testing, a trend that experts suspect may have been the result of COVID-19 precautions, according to a report released on July 22, 2022from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Using data available from early October 2021 through mid-June 2022, the agency estimated that influenza virus infection resulted in 8 to 13 million symptomatic illnesses, 3.7 to 6.1 million medical visits, 82,000 to 170,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 to 14,000 deaths.

Thats significantly less severe than many earlier flu seasons. In 20182019, there were 29 million cases of the flu, 13 million flu-related doctor visits, 380,000 flu-related hospitalizations, and 28,000 flu deaths, including more than 100 deaths of children between the ages of 5 and 17 years, according to theCDC.

Heath experts often look to the Southern Hemisphere as one indicator of what the flu season will be in Northern Hemisphere (which includes the United States). This year Australia reports the number of flu cases so far has exceeded the five-year average, according to an NBC News report.

The flu vaccine is the best way to help protect against the flu, which is why the CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older should get a flu shot (with rare exceptions) every year.

Continue reading here:

Xofluza Approved to Treat and Prevent Flu in Children 5 to 12 Years Old - Everyday Health

Colds and the flu are classic for ruining our fall and winter celebrationsThanksgiving gatherings, Hanukkah festivals, Christmas craft fairs, New Years eve celebrations.

COVID-19 isnt nearly as respectful.

Its an equal-opportunity menace, at best, and killer, at worst, that has yet to settle into a pattern of seasonalityand may never do so fully.

COVID infections in the U.S. and elsewhere have peaked in every season, including summer. So weve never had any real break from COVID-19, Dr. Mark Siedner, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, told Fortune.

The emergence of new, more infectious variants has prevented the virus from settling into a more traditional seasonal pattern, Dr. Morgan Katz, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, told Fortune.

The novel virus has led to quarantines and lockdowns over the past two and a half years, upending normal activities and even disrupting the seasonality of viruses like the flu and RSV, as individuals refrained from gathering and worked and attended school remotely, she pointed out.

Both Siedner and Katz agree that COVID will likely become a seasonal virus, worse in the fall and winter.

But it may take a few years to settle out, Katz said.

A trend of seasonality may already be in the works. The countrys worst peak occurred when Omicron hit in December 2020 into January 2021, Siedner pointed out, with spring and summer waves tending to be more minor. This summers BA.5 wave has been the exception, with near-record levels of COVID in at least some communities, according to wastewater levels.

A continuous cycle of new mutations that are increasingly more immune-evasive and contagious have made it so COVID has never really gone away, Siedner said.

Its so contagious that unless our immunity protects us better than it does at the current, its likely to continue this cycle, he added.

Were all hoping this wont be the forever future.

Sign up for theFortune Features email list so you dont miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews, and investigations.

Read this article:

Colds and the flu ruin our winters. COVID isnt nearly as pickybut this could be changing - Fortune

The Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg is typically used for celebrations. Each year, farmers from across the commonwealth flock to the facility in January to show off their handiwork animals that they care for, prize-winning produce and other fruits from their labor in one of Pennsylvanias top industries agriculture. Over the years, its also become home to concerts, craft beer tastings and auctions.

But on a rainy day in April, Pennsylvanias top agriculture official, Russell Redding, had a message that was far from celebratory. In fact, the news he was about to deliver threatened to disrupt the very industry that the facility was meant to showcase.

Speaking from the complexs Cameron Street Lobby, Redding announced that the state was now on high alert after an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza was discovered on a Lancaster County poultry farm a finding that marked the first of many outbreaks in Pennsylvania.

Redding, at the time, stressed that the disease posed no direct threat to humans. To date, only one person in the U.S. has contracted the disease, and has since recovered. But the spread of the virus throughout poultry farms, Redding said, had and still does have the potential to disrupt the states economy and do real damage to the states poultry industry.

To date, there have been 17 outbreaks among commercial flocks in Pennsylvania, which have led to a loss of more than 4.2 million birds. The outbreaks have largely been confined to Lancaster and Berks counties, and while the spread of the virus in the commonwealth could have been much worse, it still had a major effect on farms in impacted counties.

The spread was quite severe. At least 4.2 million birds were affected, said Gino Lorenzoni, a professor of poultry science and avian health at Penn State Universitys College of Agricultural Sciences, who said the disease has infected ducks, commercial egg layers and broilers, which are chickens bred for meat.

Lorenzoni said the avian flu can present in different ways. One of the main signs indicating that a flock could be infected is if birds begin dying without a clear explanation. Other symptoms include purple discoloration of a birds wattle, a lack of coordination, nasal discharge, a lack of energy and diarrhea.

The virus spreads largely through fecal matter and oral secretions, according to Lorenzoni, who said that the virus is kept in nature by wild, migrating birds that are infected with the flu but may not be exhibiting any outward symptoms. They will be able to keep migrating or long distances and basically disseminating spreading the virus through fecal material and oral secretions, he said.

The first outbreak in Pennsylvania prompted agriculture officials to warn residents about the impacts that further spread could have on the states economy and food supply, given that infected flocks must be euthanized to prevent continued spread.

Redding, speaking to City & State in an interview, said the dangers of highly pathogenic avian influenza have already been felt in parts of the state that have experienced outbreaks.

You've got a $7.1 billion poultry industry in the state. It's 26,000-plus jobs such a significant piece of Pennsylvania agriculture, he said. We have seen as a result of the 17 farms that were directly impacted just how devastating it is obviously to the birds, but also economically.

Bird flu outbreaks have also resulted in financial and logistical challenges for farms where the virus has been detected, as well as those that fall within quarantine zones. Heather Lewis, whose family owns a poultry farm in Mount Joy, said during a press conference in July that her farm was unable to repopulate its flocks as a result of nearby outbreaks.

Lewis, whose farm raises 500,000 broilers, and also grows corn, beans and wheat, said her family was preparing for its next flock of chickens in early April when the flu was detected in her neighborhood.

We were getting ready for our next flock of chickens which was scheduled to come in just a few days. That was when the first case of avian influenza was found in Pennsylvania, more specifically in our neighborhood. Then another farm tested positive, and then another, and we know how it went from there.

However, Lewis farm, and others like hers, could now benefit from a new $25 million state grant program that offers financial relief for 91 impacted farms located within infected zones that have been established by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. The program will fully reimburse losses up to $100,000, and will reimburse losses of over $100,000 on a percentage basis based on the number of applications and how much funding is available.

The grant program is the result of a $25 million investment in this years state budget for farm recovery efforts. The budget package also included $6 million to increase the testing capacity of the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System.

In addition to the state funding allocation for Pennsylvania farms, theres another silver lining in the states battle against the bird flu a decline in new outbreaks at commercial farms. The last reported outbreak in Pennsylvania came on June 2 a development that Redding attributed to the biosecurity measures that farms and agriculture officials have taken since the first case was detected.

Lorenzoni, who serves on a state task force dedicated to responding to bird flu outbreaks, said biosecurity measures are crucial to curbing the spread of the avian flu. Precautions that are essential to limiting the spread include only wearing dedicated shoes and clothing when working with birds, washing hands frequently, disinfecting vehicles and equipment, limiting visors from nonessential farm personnel and deterring rodents and wild birds using fences or netting, he said.

Redding said farms have been incredibly receptive to biosecurity protocols to date. We feel lucky or fortunate that we are where we are with the losses that we've incurred it could have been a lot worse, he said. However, just because there were few outbreaks reported over the summer months doesnt mean the threat is gone.

Redding said that fall migration could result in wild birds commingling with commercial flocks, leading to a new surge in avian flu cases in the months to come, a worry that Lorenzoni also shared.

It is very likely that the virus is going to remain circulating for some time, Lorenzoni said. So it's very likely that with more birds coming back from the fall migration, we can see those numbers of wild birds (testing) positive increase.

Excerpt from:

A fowl virus: What the bird flu means for PA agriculture and how to fight it - cityandstatepa.com

The Southern Hemisphere has been experiencing an unusual surge in flu cases early this season and experts say the same could happen in the United States later this year.

The Australian flu season usually spans from May to September, but this year the number of flu cases from mid-April exceeded the 5-year average.

The Australian experiences is suggestive that this could be a really bad flu season in the Northern Hemisphere as well, Dr. Dean Blumberg, the chief of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of California Davis Childrens Hospital, told Healthline.

Blumberg says the influenza season in the United States has been unusual since the COVID-19 pandemic began and this could have consequences for this years season.

We saw historically low rates of influenza during that 2021 flu season and relatively low rates during 21/22 in the U.S., and yet, we had lingering influenza cases that occurred in May and June and we were still seeing patients admitted to the hospital in May and June, treating them for influenza, which is highly unusual, he said.

I worry about it because I think with all the social distancing and mask wearing people have not been getting infected, which is a great thing, but they also havent been building up immunity, Blumberg explained. So those people who dont get immunized, theres going to be a significantly larger proportion of them who dont have any recent experience with influenza infections. And that could lead to a higher rate of infection and also more severe cases.

In Australia so far this year, children younger than 5 and those aged between 5 and 19 had the highest rates of reported flu.

For the 2022/2023 flu season, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that every person over 6 months of age should be vaccinated against flu.

This year, there are six options for the flu vaccine, including egg-free vaccines, a nasal spray vaccine, and higher potency vaccines for those aged 65 and over.

In June, the CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to preferentially recommend three higher potency flu vaccines for people aged 65 and older.

In this age group, these specific vaccines may produce a more effective immune response than the standard dose.

Fortunately, everyone aged 65 and older, in essence in the United States, is a Medicare recipient. And for them, there is no out-of-pocket cost for influenza vaccine, including these vaccines, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, told Healthline.

Each year, we vaccinate two-thirds of the population aged 65 and older. Thats a great achievement. But interestingly enough, it means that a third of people in the United States 65 years of age and older, the very population that suffers disproportionately the most severe aspects of influenza, do not avail themselves of the vaccine. When its free. As I like to say, all they have to do is roll up their sleeves, Schaffner said.

In recent years, experts say manufacturers of vaccines have shipped their products to pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics relatively early in the flu season. But experts stress it is important not to get the flu vaccine too early, even if it is available.

Historically, weve been recommending as soon as the influenza vaccine is available. However, with recent data showing that the protection lasts between four and six months its been recommended by some to push back the vaccination date to late September or early October to provide the maximum protection during the peak months of infection, Blumberg said.

The CDC advises it is best to get vaccinated before influenza starts circulating in the community, with September and October being good times to be vaccinated.

It advises that ideally everyone should have received their influenza vaccination by the end of October.

However, in some cases, early vaccination can be considered. Some children require two doses of flu vaccine and these children can get vaccinated with their first shot as soon as vaccines are available, even if this is in July or August.

Those in the third trimester of pregnancy can also consider an early vaccination.

It will take two weeks following vaccination for antibodies to develop to protect against an influenza infection.

Experts say relying on last years vaccine is not a good idea, as protection from the vaccine decreases over time and the influenza virus changes every year, which is why an annual vaccine is necessary.

We have to adapt the vaccine. We have to update it in order to account for the strains that we think will be more prominent to come in the winter, Schaffner said.

With a twindemic of both COVID-19 and influenza expected this winter, experts say the influenza vaccination is an important tool to prevent respiratory illness.

I would hope people would take advantage of a simple preventative measure, to get the influenza vaccine to try to prevent a respiratory illness, Schaffner said. And then also think about, if you do get influenza, youre going to have a fever, youre going to have a cough, youre not sure what you have at the time, youre probably going to be worried that you have COVID. So who needs that anxiety?

See the original post here:

When is the Best Time to Get a Flu Shot This Year? - Healthline

Matt Kaeberlein is what you might call a dog person. He has grown up with dogs and describes his German shepherd, Dobby, as really special. But Dobby is 14 years oldaround 98 in dog years. Im very much seeing the aging process in him, says Kaeberlein, who studies aging at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Kaeberlein is co-director of the Dog Aging Project, an ambitious research effort to track the aging process of tens of thousands of companion dogs across the US. He is one of a handful of scientists on a mission to improve, delay, and possibly reverse that process to help them live longer, healthier lives.

But dogs are just the beginning. Because theyre a great model for humans, anti-aging or lifespan-extending drugs that work for dogs could eventually benefit people, too. In the meantime, attempts to prolong the life of pet dogs can help people get onboard with the idea of life extension in humans. Read the full story.

Jessica Hamzelou

The quest to show that biological sex matters in the immune system

For years, microbiologist Sabra Klein has painstakingly made the case that sexdefined by biological attributes such as our sex chromosomes, sex hormones, and reproductive tissuescan influence immune responses.

Through research in animal models and humans, Klein and others have shown how and why male and female immune systems respond differently to the flu virus, HIV, and certain cancer therapies, and why most women receive greater protection from vaccines but are also more likely to get severe asthma and autoimmune disorders (something that had been known but not attributed specifically to immune differences.)

In the 1990s, scientists often attributed such differences to gender rather than sexto norms, roles, relationships, behaviors, and other sociocultural factors as opposed to biological differences in the immune system. Klein has helped spearhead a shift in immunology, a field that long thought sex differences didnt matterand shes set her sights on pushing the field of sex differences even futher. Read the full story.

See the original post:

Extending dogs' lives, and sex and the immune system - MIT Technology Review

Share The Article

Last Updated 2 days ago

In a new development even the most optimistic didnt see coming, Thailand will outpace the vast majority of Asia, and even the Western Hemisphere, in treating Covid as an endemic disease. From October, the once ultra-strict country will downgrade the pathogen to the same category as the flu virus, effectively treating both the same.

After more than two years of enforcing strict regulations aimed at curbing the viral spread, Thailand has progressively eased its stance this year, dropping the highly controversial Thailand Pass, which was seen as a barrier for most foreign visitors, and rescinding all mask requirements. Now, it will be taking yet another huge step in reinstating normality.

Here is everything you need to know about Thailands reclassifying of Covid and what it means for tourists:

Unlike other popular tourist hotspots, like Germany and Cyprus, that have recently made a U-turn and tightened pandemic rules once more, Thailand is pursuing a different path irrespective of the rise of new Omicron sub-variants. You may be wondering why, seeing that it stood among some of the most conservative Asian states not that long ago.

In sum, the Ministry of Public Health, responsible for the anti-Covid response, has finally conceded the situation has begun to stabilize, and the virus, albeit still dangerous, no longer justifies a state of emergency. Interestingly, cases in Thailand have remained stable while other neighboring countries have seen new spikes.

According to data shared by Worldometers, the moving average of new reported cases is 2,190 for the 7-day period ending on, and preceding August 11 roughly the same as a month ago on July 11, when the rolling average was 2,134. There has been a slight increase, yes, but this has not strained the local health sector, nor led to a surge in deaths.

For that reason, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, a central figure in Thailand politics during the pandemic years, has confirmed Covid will join other viruses such as influenza, perpetrator of the flu, and dengue, responsible for dengue fever, on a list of communicable diseases that simply need monitoring.

This will happen as soon as October, and will reflect the reality of the pandemic in Thailand, according ot Charnvirakul himself. Previously, Thailand had resorted to numerous lockdowns and social curbs to keep the virus under control, going as far as barring entry of foreigners into numerous destinations in an attempt to keep new variants out.

Up until recently, tourists had also been subject to strict vaccine, testing, and isolation mandates, as well as Thailands infamously confusing quarantine entry schemes. While it has yet to mimic the likes of Mexico, or even its fellow Asian partner Vietnam, in fully scrapping entry requirements, visiting Thailand is now the easiest its been since 2020.

Essentially, foreigners must provide one of the following documents to be granted quarantine-free entry:

By effectively declaring the disease as endemic, as it previously indicated it would, Thailand is re-asserting itself as a friendly tourist destination, and completely shifting their Covid strategy. Not our words, the Health Ministers: he believes it is now up to the public to look after their own health, instead of being closely guarded by the national government.

In his statement, the Minister lists the readiness of Thailands healthcare system, as well as access to treatment, as reasons why Covid is no longer as disruptive as it once was. Prior to this update, the virus had shared the same status as the plague and smallpox, two other conditions that indeed threaten lives and the functioning of society.

As a matter of fact, monkeypox, an entity closely related to the latter, has been doing the rounds lately and prompted numerous destinations, and even the World Health Organization, to sound the alarm. As new, more pressing issues face travelers, including new health concerns, Covid seems to be finally taking a back seat.

In Thailand, this will be official beginning this fall.

Read More:

Travel Insurance That Covers Covid-19 For 2022

Top 5 Off Path Places To Travel In Thailand For 2022

Non-Stop Flights From North America To Thailand Returns After 10 Years

Thailand Becomes The First Destination In Asia To Lift Ban On Cannabis

Thailand To Introduce 2 Levels Of Pricing: One For Tourists And One For Locals

This article originally appeared on Travel Off Path. For the latest breaking news that will affect your next trip, please visit: Traveloffpath.com

Join the community

TheTravel Off Path Community FB grouphas all the latest reopening news, conversations, and Q&As happening daily!

Enter your email address to subscribe to Travel Off Paths latest breaking travel news, straight to your inbox

Disclaimer: Current travel rules and restrictionscan change without notice. The decision to travel is ultimately your responsibility. Contact your consulate and/or local authorities to confirm your nationalitys entry and/or any changes to travel requirements before traveling. Travel Off Path does not endorse traveling against government advisories

See the original post:

Thailand To Start Treating Covid Like The Flu From October - Travel Off Path

By Michelle Toh, CNN Business

CNN Forget taking two to three Covid shots a year. Moderna hopes to roll out a single-dose annual booster to cover the coronavirus, the flu and another common respiratory virus within the next five years.

As Covid-19 continues to mutate, Moderna will need to keep updating the vaccines that turned it into a global household name while trying to make it more convenient for consumers, CEO Stphane Bancel said in an interview with CNN Business Wednesday.

He estimated a timeline of "three to five years" for the new combined product, and likened the development of the life-saving jab to that of a smartphone.

"You don't get the amazing camera, amazing everything the first time you get an iPhone, but you get a lot of things," he said.

"A lot of us buy a new iPhone every September, and you get new apps and you get refreshed apps. And that's exactly the same idea, which is you'll get Covid and flu and RSV [respiratory syncytial virus] in your single dose."

Having recorded breakneck growth during the pandemic, Moderna is now under pressure to identify its next big frontier.

Bancel believes the Covid-19 pandemic that helped the company rack up tens of billions of dollars in revenue and generate business in more than 70 markets globally could end as soon as this year.

That doesn't mean the virus is going anywhere, he noted.

"I think we are slowly moving if not already in some countries to a world where all the tools are available, and everybody can make their own decision based on their risk tolerance," he explained, adding that he believed more people would choose to "live with the virus," much like they do with the flu.

The approach, however, will continue to vary greatly, such as among people who are immunocompromised or in countries like Japan, where it was common to wear masks even before the pandemic, he acknowledged.

And "there's always a 20% probability that we get a very nasty variant that drives very severe disease that has a lot of mutation," he added.

Still, Moderna is determined not to become a one-hit wonder.

The company has more than 40 products in development, and is planning for life well beyond Covid-19, said Bancel.

In addition to an updated annual booster, it is continuing to develop a personalized cancer vaccine, for which new clinical data will drop later this year. Bancel said the product could go up for approval in roughly two years if all goes well.

The company is also exploring a potential monkeypox jab, which is "still in the lab today," Bancel said. The World Health Organization declared the global outbreak of the illness a public health emergency of international concern last month.

And Moderna is looking to catch up to competitors overseas.

Earlier this year, it announced a push into 10 Asian and European markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Denmark and the Netherlands. The investments will cost "dozens of millions of dollars" and include hundreds of new hires, said Bancel.

He sees that as just one wave of expansion that will eventually take Moderna from directly operating in 12 countries this year to "40 to 60 countries" over the next three years.

The company also recently signed manufacturing agreements in the United Kingdom, South Korea and Australia, and is hoping to set up one or two more plants in Southeast Asia or North Asia.

Bancel said the new facilities would be crucial to helping adapt its products to different strains of illnesses that develop around the world.

As the world first dealt with the onset of Covid-19, Moderna was one of the handful of large manufacturers that rushed to get their vaccines ready, reducing timelines from years to months. Its stock rallied 434% in 2020 and 143% last year.

But now, like peers Pfizer and BioNTech, the firm's stock has slumped, dropping more than 30% so far this year and 64% from its all-time high a year ago.

Last week, the company revealed that it took a writedown of nearly $500 million in the second quarter, partly because of a sudden cancellation of orders from Covax, the international vaccination program for lower-income countries.

The reversal led to huge losses for the company, which had bought new machines to fulfill those orders, and more importantly, resulted in Covid vaccines being thrown in the trash, said Bancel.

"We ended up destroying the vaccines," he said. "It was really heartbreaking."

The CEO said he wasn't worried about that kind of slide in demand being repeated in richer countries, in part because governments had already shown commitments to use vaccines later this year to avoid reintroducing economic lockdowns.

But "on the low-income country side, yes, I am worried," he said.

The-CNN-Wire & 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

See the rest here:

Moderna plans single, annual shot for COVID, flu and other respiratory virus - WRAL News