Category Archive

The Journal of General Internal Medicine published a study by physician-researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) that assessed the relative impact of COVID-19 on patients hospitalized with the viral infection versus patients hospitalized with influenza.
COVID-19 and influenza are both contagious respiratory viral diseases that can lead to pneumonia and acute respiratory failure in severe cases, says the U.S. CDC.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently published a review of the zoonotic influenza virus activity and virus characterization and describes the current status of the development of vaccine candidates for pandemic preparedness purposes. 
The development of influenza candidate vaccine viruses, coordinated by WHO, remains an essential component of the overall global strategy for influenza pandemic preparedness.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the influenza vaccine selection committee finalized its recommendations for the Northern Hemisphere's 2021-22 flu season.
These recommendations were made within the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, record-low levels of influenza detections were reported, and fewer viruses were available for characterization during September 2020 to January 2021 time period than in previous years, said the WHO.

Vir Biotechnology, Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) announced an agreement to expand their existing collaboration to include the research and development of new therapies for influenza and other respiratory viruses.

A recent study published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) found that the risk of death from COVID-19 was 3.5 times higher than from the seasonal flu.
"We can now say that COVID-19 is much more severe than seasonal influenza," said Dr. Amol Verma, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, and the University of Toronto, in a press statement.

An experimental single-dose, intranasal influenza vaccine candidate, was found safe and produced a durable immune response when tested in a Phase 1 study, announced the National Institutes of Health.
This study was sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation on February 2, 2021. 

Seasonal influenza activity in the USA remains lower than usual for this time of year, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC also reported the number of influenza-associated hospitalizations is lower than average for this point in the 2020-2021 flu season and are ‘comparable to counts seen at this point during the 2011-12 season.’
And the CDC’s new weekly report (#50) confirmed since September 27, 2020, only (0.2%) of virus species tested were found infected with influenza. Of those found, 56.9 percent were identified as Influenza A.

The seasonal influenza activity remained lower than usual for this time of year, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC also reported the number of influenza-associated hospitalizations is lower than normal for this time of year and is ‘comparable to counts last seen during the 2011-12 season.’
And the CDC’s new weekly report (#50) confirmed since September 27, 2020, only (0.2%) of virus species tested were found infected with influenza. Of those found, 56.9 percent were identified as Influenza A.

As influenza viruses spread this flu season, getting an influenza vaccination is more important than ever, stated the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on December 7, 2020.
According to various reports, about 190 million vaccines were produced for the USA this flu season.
The CDC strongly encourages everyone to discuss their flu vaccine options with a healthcare provider.
 The CDC identified five reasons why you should get a flu shot:

A systematic review and meta-analysis presented at the European Scientific Working Group on Influenza virtual conference on December 7, 2020, confirmed the benefit of an MF59®-adjuvanted trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine (aTIV) for adults 65 years and older.
As announced by Seqirus, the results indicate that relative vaccine effectiveness (rVE) favored aTIV over non-adjuvanted standard dose quadrivalent and trivalent influenza vaccines in averting influenza-related medical encounters.