CDC says flu activity has reached epidemic threshold. Following earlier warnings from the CDC that this year’s flu season could be more aggressive than other years, the agency announced that flu incidence has crossed the epidemic threshold. An emailed statement from the CDC’s flu division said that influenza “reaches an epidemic level when the proportion of deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza reaches a certain threshold: 6.8 percent.” Most major national outlets covered the story, focusing on both the characteristics of this year’s strain and the efficacy of the vaccines currently available. Local media have focused on the flu as it has affected local hospitals and school systems. The Washington Post (12/30, Ohlheiser) reports that the CDC’s announcement that this year’s flu activity has reached “epidemic levels” comes as “the number of states reporting a ‘high’ level of influenza activity jumped from 13 to 22 in one week.” The dominant strain of the flu this year is H3N2, and in early December CDC Director Tom Frieden warned that “H3N2 predominant seasons tend to have more hospitalizations and more deaths.” The Post also notes that despite the warning, Erin Burns, a health communications specialist with the Influenza Division at the CDC, said in an email regarding the number of pediatric deaths, “It is a bit early to make any kind of characterization about pediatric deaths this season,” and “from looking at the curve going back to 2011-2012, it doesn’t seem like anything unusual is happening.” Similarly, ABC News (12/31) chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser said that “while this year’s strain of the virus is especially severe,” the flu “can always be deadly for children, the elderly and anyone with a compromised immune system.” USA Today (12/31, Grisham) reports that according to Michael Smith, a doctor and chief medical editor for WebMD, the H3N2 strain of the flu “isn’t uncommon; it’s just not what was predicted when the flu vaccine was created.” What ultimately gets included in the vaccine is decided each year by the FDA “based on recommendations from the World Health Organization” and “takes about six months to produce.” Reporting on the available treatments, Bloomberg News (12/31, Cortez, Edney) adds that some areas of the US “are experiencing spot shortages of Tamiflu (oseltamivir),” one of the mainline flu treatments for this year. The New York Times (12/31, Sanger-Katz, Subscription Publication) “The Upshot” reports that Google Flu Trends, which “measures flu intensity using search terms,” shows a “similar pattern of high flu activity” to the one reported by the CDC.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 14:37:22 +0000
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