The Best Defense Against Influenza Is Vaccination

The Best Defense Against Influenza Is Vaccination.
The 2013 flu mature is living up to its lend billing as one of the worst in years. In Boston, where four flu-related deaths have been reported, Mayor Thomas Menino declared a federal of emergency on Wednesday, and officials are working to set up natural flu-vaccine initiatives. The city has already recorded 700 confirmed cases of flu, compared to 70 cases for all of in the end year, according to Boston dot com. At Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, PA, a tent has been set up faint the crisis department because the medical center is struggling with a burgeoning number of flu cases, lehighvalleylive jot com reported.

And in Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital has recorded a 20 percent expand in flu patients every day, ABC News reported. The 2012-2013 flu period got off to an early start, and it's only getting worse as peak flu season nears. "As we moved into the end of December and January, endeavour has really picked up in a lot more states," Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told HealthDay.

According to the example CDC statistics, which stream through Dec 29, 2013 a total of 41 states were reporting widespread flu activity. There have been 18 flu-related deaths of children so far. The prevailing strain so far this year is H3N2. "In years sometime when we have seen an H3N2 dominate, we tend to see more severe ailment in young kids and the elderly".

Vaccination Protects Against Influenza

Vaccination Protects Against Influenza.
US strength officials would like every American superannuated 6 months and older to get a flu vaccine, and on Thursday they produced statistics they deliberate should convince everyone to get vaccinated. "In the 2012-2013 flu season, vaccinations prevented at least 6,6 million cases of flu-associated illness. They also prevented some 3,2 million kith and kin from whereas their doctor and 79000 hospitalizations," Dr Tom Frieden, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a c noontide press briefing. The benefits of vaccination seen in 2012-2013 were greater than the CDC had seen before and were attributable to the harshness of the season.

So "Last year was a relatively stiff season. Even with those hospitalizations prevented, there were still about 381000 flu-associated hospitalizations. This is higher than we have seen during many flu seasons". During the end flu season, there were some 31,8 million influenza-associated illnesses and 14,4 million doctors visits for flu, according a CDC communication in the Dec 13, 2013 exit of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Frieden said the best way to be protected from the flu is to be vaccinated.

Yet only 40 percent of Americans elderly 6 months and older had been vaccinated by early November. Flu across the boondocks is picking up and even greater activity is predicted in the coming weeks. Increased prevalence has been seen in the Southeast and in some states beyond that area. "We know that it will increase in the coming weeks and months, but we cannot augur where and when and how severe this year's flu season will be.

The USA Does Not Have Enough Tamiflu

The USA Does Not Have Enough Tamiflu.
If the headlines are any indication, this year's flu time is turning out to be a whopper. Boston and New York federal have declared states of emergency, vaccine supplies are management out in spots, and some emergency departments are overwhelmed. And the panacea Tamiflu, used to treat flu symptoms, is reportedly in short supply. But is the job as bad as it seems? The bottom line: It's too early in the flu occasion to say for sure, according to health experts.

Certainly there are worrying signs. "This year there is a higher swarm of positive tests coming back," said Dr Lewis Marshall Jr, chairman of the bureau of emergency medicine at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in New York City. "Emergency rooms are experiencing an influx of people.

People are fatiguing to find the vaccine and having a heartless time due to the fact that it's so late in the vaccination season". But the vaccine is still available, said Dr Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, in a report Tuesday. "The FDA has approved influenza vaccines from seven manufacturers, and collectively they have produced an estimated 135 million doses of this season's flu vaccine for the US".

And "We have received reports that some consumers have found soil shortages of the vaccine. We are monitoring this situation". Consumers can go to flu.gov to obtain restricted sources for flu shots, including clinics, supermarkets and pharmacies. For bourgeoisie who have the flu "be assured that the FDA is working to induce sure that medicine to attend flu symptoms is available for all who need it.

We do anticipate intermittent, temporary shortages of the said suspension form of Tamiflu - the liquid version often prescribed for children - for the residue of the flu season. However, the FDA is working with the manufacturer to increase supply". The flu mature seems to have started earlier than usual.

Status Of Viral Influenza Activity This Season

Status Of Viral Influenza Activity This Season.
Although winter hasn't even arrived, the first off signs of flu occasion have, US health officials said Friday. In fact, Georgia is since a sharp increase in influenza cases, mostly centre of school-aged children, with the state calling it a regional outbreak. The Georgia cases may be an ancient sign of what's in store for the rest of the country once flu season really gets under practice in the winter, officials from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

But there's cracking news, too: the flu strains circulating so far seem to be a close match for this season's vaccine and next week has been designated by the CDC as National Influenza Vaccination Week. "Flu is coming," Dr Anne Schuchat, president of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during an afternoon hurry conference. "This lowering has begun like so many influenza seasons, with comparatively few flu viruses circulating through the end of November".

However, last season's H1N1 flu pandemic was very unique from what is usually seen and people shouldn't be complacent because flu hasn't roared back yet. Schuchat prominent that this year's flu vaccine is designed to fight the H1N1 pandemic strain, as well as strains H3N2 and influenza B.

In Georgia, influenza B is the heave that is being seen most right now. "The more than half of B viruses from Georgia are related to the B virus that is in our vaccine, so we expect the vaccine to be a palatable match against this B strain that is already causing quite a bit of disease". The vaccine is also a exemplary match for the other flu strains seen so far, including H1N1, H2N2 and the influenza B virus.

Schuchat believes that all Americans, exclude children under 6 months of age, should get a flu shot. "I strongly onward people to get vaccinated to make sure you're protected and to make guaranteed your children are protected too". Children under 9 years of age may need two doses of the vaccine to be protected.

Flu Season This Year Began At Christmas

Flu Season This Year Began At Christmas.
In Chicago, a dispensary staff member describes the emergency department as "knee-deep in flu and pneumonia cases". In Richmond, VA, Dr Kenneth Lucas of the Patient First clinic says he's seen a 30 percent hillock in flu cases, which "hit the booster around Christmastime" and "really rolled in with the holidays". And in Rhode Island, where almost 10 percent of danger room visits in the olden times week were due to flu-like symptoms, state Health Department Director Michael Fine predicts this could be the worst flu ripen in years. This year's influenza season got off to an early start, and according to these and other published accounts it's ramping up as apogee flu season nears.

And "as we have moved into the end of December and January, venture has really picked up in a lot more states," said Tom Skinner, spokesman for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Flu period usually peaks in recently January or early February but by November the flu was already severe and widespread in some parts of the South and Southeast.

Farther north, occupation has escalated in the Mid-Atlantic states, including Virginia, in addition to Illinois and Rhode Island. "We did get off to an earlier start-up than we usually see". According to the most recent CDC statistics, aftermost updated Dec 22, 2012 16 states and New York City were reporting on a trip levels of flu activity. The states include Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.

Flu Vaccines Approved For Next Winter, Will Protect Against Three Strains Of Influenza, Including H1N1

Flu Vaccines Approved For Next Winter, Will Protect Against Three Strains Of Influenza, Including H1N1.
The flu vaccines approved for the 2010-11 age care for against three strains of influenza, including the 2009 H1N1 pandemic swine flu strain, the United States Food and Drug Administration has announced. Because the 2009 H1N1 virus emerged after opus had started on up to date year's seasonal flu vaccine, two distinct vaccines were needed newest season to protect against seasonal flu and the 2009 H1N1 virus.

This year, persons will require only one vaccine, the FDA said. Each year, experts from the World Health Organization, the FDA, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other institutions analyze flu virus samples and patterns at ease worldwide in scale to govern which strains are most likely to cause illness during the upcoming season.

The vaccines for the 2010-11 flu occasion contain the following strains:

* A/California/7/09 (H1N1)-like virus (pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus),

Allergies Can Lead To Depression

Allergies Can Lead To Depression.
Allergy mellow may not mean just the absolute coughing, sneezing and itching, it could also significantly darken your mood. Researchers reported that finding at the American Psychiatric Association's annual convocation in New Orleans this week. "Depression is a very common disorder and allergies are even more common," said workroom author Dr Partam Manalai, in the department of psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. "Allergies produce one more prone to worsening mood, cognition and blue blood of life".

A large peak in pollen particles floating in the air occurs in the spring, with a smaller summit in the fall. This coincides with a worldwide spike in suicides every spring and a disgrace peak in the fall. To explore this relationship, Manalai and his colleagues recruited 100 volunteers from Baltimore and Washington, DC, who had dominant depression. About half were allergic and half were not allergic to trees and/or ragweed pollen.

Volunteers were evaluated during both high-pollen ripen and low-pollen season, and also had levels of their IgE antibodies (a system of sensitivity to allergens) measured. This is believed to be the first place study to link actual IgE measurements with depression scores.

Production Of A New Type Of Flu Vaccine Launched In The USA

Production Of A New Type Of Flu Vaccine Launched In The USA.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a romance standard of flu vaccine, the operation announced Wednesday. Flublok, as the vaccine is called, does not use the routine method of the influenza virus or eggs in its production. Instead, it is made using an "insect virus (baculovirus) softness system and recombinant DNA technology," the FDA said in a news release. This will countenance vaccine maker Protein Sciences Corp, of Meriden, Conn, to produce Flublok in brawny quantities, the agency added.

The vaccine is approved for use in those aged 18 to 49. "This authorization represents a technological advance in the manufacturing of an influenza vaccine," said Dr Karen Midthun, headman of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. "The new technology offers the implicit for faster start-up of the vaccine manufacturing process in the event of a pandemic, because it is not dependent on an egg reservoir or on availability of the influenza virus".

While the technology is new to flu vaccine production, it has been employed in the making of vaccines that hamper other infectious diseases, the agency noted. As it does with all influenza vaccines, the FDA will assess Flublok before each flu season. In inquire into conducted at various sites in the United States, Flublok was about 45 percent powerful against all circulating influenza strains, not just the strains that matched those in the vaccine.

The most commonly reported adverse reactions included discomfort at the site of injection, headache, weakness and muscle aches - events also typical for conventional flu vaccines, the instrumentality said. The new flu vaccine could not have come at a better time, with the flu season well under practice and sporadic shortages of both the traditional flu vaccine and the flu treatment Tamiflu. "We have received reports that some consumers have found location shortages of the vaccine," FDA Commissioner Dr Margaret Hamburg said Monday on her blog on the agency's website.

Current Flu Season Is Deathly

Current Flu Season Is Deathly.
The in vogue flu season, already off to a rude start, continues to get worse, with 43 states now reporting widespread flu action and 21 child deaths so far, US health officials said Monday. And, the predominate flu continues to be the H3N2 separate - one that is poorly matched to this year's vaccine, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The division of outpatient visits for flu-like symptoms reached nearly 6 percent by the end of December, approach above the baseline of 2 percent, CDC spokeswoman Erin Burns said Monday.

Flu reaches plague levels in the United States every year, Dr Michael Jhung, a medical dick in CDC's influenza division, told HealthDay matrix week. Whether this flu season will be more severe or milder than previous ones won't be known until April or May. The mob of children's deaths from flu varies by year. "In some years we get the drift as few as 30, in other years we have seen over 170. Although it's the mid-section of the flu season, the CDC continues to recommend that everyone 6 months and older get a flu shot.

The reason: there's more than one exemplar of flu circulating, and the vaccine protects against at least three strains of circulating virus. "If you grapple with one of those viruses where there is a very good match, then you will be well-protected. Even if there isn't a great match, the vaccine still provides bulwark against the virus that's circulating". People at jeopardy of flu-related complications include young children, especially those younger than 2 years; people over 65; in a family way women; and people with chronic health problems, such as asthma, heart disease and weakened exempt systems, according to the CDC.