Flu Vaccine Mismatch Raises Further Concerns About ‘Twindemic’ With Covid-19
A study suggests that this season's flu vaccine may not cover the circulating H3N2 influenza strain very well. (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News - December 19, 2021 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Bruce Y. Lee, Senior Contributor Tags: Healthcare /healthcare Innovation /innovation Science /science business pharma Source Type: news
Influenza A(H3N2) Outbreak on a University Campus - Michigan, October-November 2021
This report describes an influenza A(H3N2) outbreak at university campus in Michigan. (Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - December 9, 2021 Category: American Health Tags: Influenza (Flu) MMWR Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report Outbreaks Source Type: news
Influenza A (H3N2) variant virus – United States of America
On 13 January, 2021, a child under 18 years of age in Wisconsin developed respiratory disease. A respiratory specimen was collected on 14 January. Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing conducted at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene indicated a presumptive positive influenza A(H3N2) variant virus infection. The specimen was forwarded to the Influenza Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on 21 January for further testing. On 22 January, CDC confirmed an influenza A (H3N2)v virus infection using RT-PCR and genome sequence analysis. Investigation into the...
Source: WHO Disease Outbreaks - February 5, 2021 Category: Infectious Diseases Tags: news Source Type: news
What You Need to Know About COVID-19 and Flu
Every winter is a bit of a roulette wheel when it comes to influenza. Flu vaccines work, but aren’t 100% effective in preventing disease, so it’s always a challenge convincing people to get their flu shots. And while the symptoms are generally bearable, infections can become more severe and even deadly among people who are older or who have underlying health conditions. Last flu season, even though experts considered it a relatively mild year, about 400,000 people in the U.S. were hospitalized and 22,000 people died from the flu.
This winter, the influenza virus has a rival—the coronavirus fueling the COV...
Source: TIME: Health - December 2, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Alice Park Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news
Middle-aged individuals may be in a perpetual state of H3N2 flu virus susceptibility
(University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) Penn Medicine researchers have found that middle-aged individuals -- those born in the late 1960s and the 1970s -- may be in a perpetual state of H3N2 influenza virus susceptibility because their antibodies bind to H3N2 viruses but fail to prevent infections, according to a new study led by Scott Hensley, PhD, an associate professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The paper was published today in Nature Communications. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - September 11, 2020 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Fast-spreading mutation helps common flu subtype escape immune response
(Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health) Strains of a common subtype of influenza virus, H3N2, have almost universally acquired a mutation that effectively blocks antibodies from binding to a key viral protein. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - July 10, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Notes from the Field: Seasonal Human Influenza A(H3N2) and Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 Reassortant Infection - Idaho, 2019
This report describes CDC ' s first detection of this type of seasonal human influenza A(H3N2) and influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 reassortment. (Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - April 9, 2020 Category: American Health Tags: H1N1 Flu H3N2v Influenza MMWR Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report Source Type: news
Pulmonary surfactant-biomimetic nanoparticles potentiate heterosubtypic influenza immunity
Current influenza vaccines only confer protection against homologous viruses. We synthesized pulmonary surfactant (PS)–biomimetic liposomes encapsulating 2',3'-cyclic guanosine monophosphate–adenosine monophosphate (cGAMP), an agonist of the interferon gene inducer STING (stimulator of interferon genes). The adjuvant (PS-GAMP) vigorously augmented influenza vaccine–induced humoral and CD8+ T cell immune responses in mice by simulating the early phase of viral infection without concomitant excess inflammation. Two days after intranasal immunization with PS-GAMP–adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine, strong cross-p...
Source: ScienceNOW - February 19, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Wang, J., Li, P., Yu, Y., Fu, Y., Jiang, H., Lu, M., Sun, Z., Jiang, S., Lu, L., Wu, M. X. Tags: Immunology, Microbiology, Online Only r-articles Source Type: news
Were You Born in an H1N1 Flu Year or an H3N2? It Matters
Knowing who is at a higher risk each year could help tailor pandemic and epidemic planning, the researchers say. (Source: WebMD Health)
Source: WebMD Health - February 12, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Were You Born in an H1N1 Flu Year or an H3N2? It Matters
TUESDAY, Feb. 11, 2020 -- The first type of influenza virus you ' re exposed to may set your lifetime ability to fight the flu.
Researchers with McMaster University and University of Montreal found that being born in an H1N1 year or an H3N2 year... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews - February 11, 2020 Category: General Medicine Source Type: news
Childhood Flu May Protect Against Future Flu
BOSTON (CBS) – Why do some people seem to fend off the flu better than others? A new study finds the type of flu you got as a child may help protect you against that same type as an adult.
Researchers from UCLA and the University of Arizona looked at data from hospitals and doctors’ offices and found that people first exposed to a less severe strain of flu, called H1N1, during childhood, were less likely to be hospitalized if they encountered the same strain later in life.
The same was true for those exposed to the more severe H3N2 strain early on. They were less likely to get really sick from that same strain...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - February 5, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Health – CBS Boston Tags: Boston News Health Healthwatch Syndicated CBSN Boston Syndicated Local Dr. Mallika Marshall flu season Source Type: news
First childhood flu helps explain why virus hits some people harder than others
Why are some people better able to fight off the flu than others? Part of the answer, according to a new study, is related to the first flu strain we encounter in childhood.Scientists from UCLA and the University of Arizona have found that people ’s ability to fight off the flu virus is determined not only by the subtypes of flu they have had throughout their lives, but also by the sequence in which they are been infected by the viruses. Their study is published in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens.The research offers an explanation for why some people fare much worse than others when infected with the same strain...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - February 4, 2020 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
First childhood flu helps explain why virus hits some people harder than others
Editor ’s note: This news release was updated March 3 to include a new link to the study about COVID-19 and to reflect that the study has been accepted by the journal eLife. The release was previously updated Feb. 5 to include new comments from Professor James Lloyd-Smith about screening practices use d by public health officials. Why are some people better able to fight off the flu than others? Part of the answer, according to a new study, is related to the first flu strain we encounter in childhood.Scientists from UCLA and the University of Arizona have found that people ’s ability to fight off the flu virus is d...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - February 4, 2020 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
This Year ’s Flu Season Got Off to a Strange Start. What Does That Mean for the Months Ahead?
Flu season is always unpredictable. Different viral strains circulate each year, which makes forecasting the disease’s spread—and formulating the annual flu vaccine—an educated guessing game.
Even so, the 2019-2020 flu season has been particularly unusual. Influenza B, the viral strain that usually circulates toward the end of flu season, instead emerged first this year, shifting usual transmission patterns. A vaccine mismatch and reduced immunity to influenza B may have contributed to the early and severe start of this flu season.
What does that mean for the months ahead? TIME asked Lynnette Brammer, an ...
Source: TIME: Health - January 16, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jamie Ducharme Tags: Uncategorized Infectious Disease Source Type: news
Flu Vaccine ‘ Not A Very Good Match ’ For Strain That ’ s Tough On Children
(CNN) — This year’s flu vaccine is “not a very good match” for a common strain of the flu that’s especially tough on children, according to the nation’s top infectious disease doctor.
“It’s not a very good match for B/Victoria,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, referring to the strain. “It’s not an awful match, but it’s not a very good match.”
Children are particularly susceptible to influenza B/Victoria.
Fauci said even though the match for B/Victoria isn’t great, a flu shot can...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - January 14, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Health – CBS Boston Tags: Health News Syndicated CBSN Boston CNN Flu Vaccine Source Type: news