Sr writer, infectious diseases @statnews. 2020 Polk Award winner. Nieman '11. Conspiracy theory free zone; I block rude, racist. She/her #Covid #Ebola #flu 
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1. A sure fire sign #flu is making a comeback: 2 children in the US have died from flu this month. They are the first to die from flu in over a year. Last year there was 1 pediatric flu death, in the week ending Nov. 28, 2020.
Sad to see new additions to this graph.
pic.twitter.com/dNxnLq04fV
2. There've been lots of ugly graphs in the past couple of years, but the pediatric flu deaths one from the @CDCgov's weekly FluView report has been a respite from them. The collapse of flu activity in the earlier days of the pandemic meant no kids dying from flu. Changing now.
3. One child died from #H3N2 #flu the week ending Dec. 11. The second died the week ending Dec. 18; the causative flu strain hasn't been typed.
FluView reports that flu activity continues to increase & flu hospitalizations are climbing. Exactly what hospitals don't need now.pic.twitter.com/hF9ziiVqHh
4. At this point, almost all the U.S. activity is #H3N2, an influenza A virus.
You can see the numerical breakdown of flu viruses on the left. On the right is a chart that was up on FluView earlier this morning that puts it in simpler terms.pic.twitter.com/EaB5JjZ9Hn
5. For the 2nd week in a row the percentage of outpatient visits for #influenza-like illnesses (non-Covid) is over the national baseline of 2.5%. (red arrow) For the week ending Dec. 18 it was 3.1%. I think this means flu season has officially started. That's not all flu, tho.pic.twitter.com/Tt5xezuoxi
6. But flu activity is clearly picking up & it sounds like flu vaccination rates are lower than in previous years. Do yourself a favor: Get a flu shot & try not to catch flu this year. It's miserable & you really don't want to need health care right now. System = stressed.
7. The most recent FluView, for the week ending Dec. 18, was posted this morning. It's here.https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm …
Please help me understand - I thought there was a huge mismatch this year between the flu shot and H3N2. Will the flu shot still help? My whole family and I got the shot in October, but I've been bummed because I thought the mismatch would render our shots useless - ?
but gotta keep schools open *for the children*
Right. Not going to the school building will traumatize them. https://twitter.com/newsforalluk/status/1465942706165796866?s=21 …
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