The CDC Is Warning Of A Second Wave Of The Flu

The Centers for Disease Control are making one final push to help vaccine manufacturers make as much money as possible on this year’s ineffective flu shot.  They are now warning that there’s a second wave of the flu and it’s beginning now.

According to a March 23 statement by the government organization, a wave of the sometimes fatal Influenza B virus is spreading across the country at an unusually high rate. Although reported cases of influenza A (H3N2), which have dominated this flu season, decreased during the week of March 11, cases of Influenza B saw an unusual uptick over the same time period.

The CDC has specifically focused on children this time around. “We know that illness associated with influenza B can be just as severe as illness associated with influenza A,” CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund told CNN. “We also know that influenza B tends to be more severe for younger children.” Because of this, the CDC is hoping to convince those who didn’t get this year’s horribly ineffective flu vaccine will jump on the bandwagon, and get it now.

The CDC recommends flu shots for the unvaccinated while strains continue to circulate. It is possible for people who’ve been sick with one strain of the flu to get a different strain in the same season. Even though flu activity is declining, this second wave of influenza B cases was not unexpected, Nordlund said. “We often see a wave of influenza B during seasons when influenza A H3N2 was the predominant virus earlier in the season. Unfortunately, we don’t know what the influenza B wave will look like.”

During the week ending March 17, nearly 58% of all laboratory-confirmed cases of flu were caused by B-strain viruses, according to the CDC report. Circulating strains this season, which began in October, were a mix of A viruses (H3N2 and H1N1) and B viruses.

The flu has grown into a massive $1.6 billion business and propaganda campaign. There are a few major makers of the vaccine in the U.S.: Sanofi Pasteur is the largest, supplying a projected 65 million doses or more in 2015, followed by Australian company CSL, at up to 54 million doses (after acquiring Novartis’s flu vaccine unit in August), and GlaxoSmithKline, at up to 38 million doses.

New Flu Strains Threaten Public as CDC Admits to Flu Medicine Shortage

In what may be one of the most severe flu seasons in recent history, the CDC has warned more is to come.  This week, CDC officials say due to the influx of the widespread flu season, there are shortages of the drug used to treat the flu. While the CDC is working to address the “spot shortages”, it does not bode well for the public who are already dealing with a severe flu season and one that could potentially get worse with new flu strains emerging.

“Even if the hopeful assessment by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bears out, there will still be an additional 11 weeks to 13 weeks of flu circulating across the country. “In general, we see things peaking right about now, but that means there is still a whole lot more flu to go,” Dan Jernigan, [director of the influenza division at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases]  said. ‘In addition, there are other strains of influenza still to show up that could be a major cause of disease.’

That may already be happening. The CDC is starting to see infections caused by the H1N1 strain of the virus in states grappling with high levels of the H3N2 strain, the predominant version this season. In addition, Jernigan said, yet another type of flu caused by influenza B viruses is expected to show up later in the season.

H3N2 has compounded the damage usually wrought by the annual flu outbreak. It’s known for both its severity and ability to evade the protection provided by vaccinations that are typically more effective against the other types of flu.” (Source)

Hospitals Scrambling to Limit Exposure

With flu-related deaths continually rising, some hospitals are experiencing five times the number of influenza patients than they typically see and many medical facilities are introducing protocols to help limit flu exposure to the healthy population.

Some hospitals have set up triage stations outside of the ER for patients suffering from the flu. This will help screen, examine and if needed, admit flu patients. Both Loma Linda University Medical Center and La Mesa Hospital in California have done this to help limit flu-infected patients from entering the hospital and provide more expedient care.

Other protocols that medical centers are implementing are limiting visitors from entering the hospital. The University of Chicago hospital was one of the first to announce a flu contingency for the patients. Weeks ago, when the flu season was just coming to its peak, the hospital announced it “will not allow children under age 12 and those with a fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose or nasal congestion will not be allowed to visit patients. More hospitals around the country are adopting similar protocols and limiting visitors exposure to patients who have flu-like symptoms.

How the Flu is Spread

Experts at the CDC believe the flu is spread three different ways.

• Person-to-Person – Influenza viruses are most likely spread from person to person primarily through large-particle respiratory droplet transmission (e.g., when an infected person coughs or sneezes or talks) and can travel up to six feet through the air.


• Hand Transfer – Hand transfer of the influenza virus is also not out of the realm of possibility. Touching contaminated surfaces or objects (shaking someone’s hand or coming in contact with an object they have touched and left the virus on) can also spread the flu. Using soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizers help to prevent the spread of the flu in this way.


• Airborne Transmission – This type of flu transmission can also occur; however, the relative contribution of the different modes of influenza transmission is unclear. Airborne transmission over longer distances, such as from one patient room to another is thought not to occur.

Limit High-Risk Flu Prone Areas

We all know the importance of washing our hands during the flu season, but it’s should be emphasized that avoiding crowded places can also prevent the flu. Shopping malls, airplanes, bus stations, houses of worship, concert halls and residential living quarters like nursing homes, and college dormitories are all flu-prone areas. Moreover, introducing children to these environments only increases your risk of catching the flu. Children exhale larger amounts of virus and they are able to transmit the virus for even longer periods than adults.  That said, preschools and schools often spread the flu quickly due to the close contact and lack of frequent hand washing children tend to have.

Hospitals and medical offices are also high-risk areas where one can come in contact with the flu. Pay attention to “high touch surfaces” such as doorknobs, light switches, telephones, table surfaces, railings, and handles can all be infected with the flu virus. Other high touch areas are subway or bus poles, ATM machines, pens and pencils from banks and stores, etc. The best way to combat this is by frequently disinfecting your hands and taking necessary precautions. If you feel that you may have contracted the flu and need to go out in public, wear a face mask.

With an ineffective flu vaccine, medical care facilities stretched thin, flu medicine shortages, and new flu strains on the horizon this could be the perfect storm. Extra precautions must be made. Limit your exposure to the flu by avoiding crowded places and high touch surfaces. As well, if you feel you are coming down with the flu, stay home and do not risk infecting others. With 11 weeks left in the flu season, this could quickly become a health crisis.

The post New Flu Strains Threaten Public as CDC Admits to Flu Medicine Shortage appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

New Flu Strains Threaten Public as CDC Admits to Flu Medicine Shortage

In what may be one of the most severe flu seasons in recent history, the CDC has warned more is to come.  This week, CDC officials say due to the influx of the widespread flu season, there are shortages of the drug used to treat the flu. While the CDC is working to address the “spot shortages”, it does not bode well for the public who are already dealing with a severe flu season and one that could potentially get worse with new flu strains emerging.

“Even if the hopeful assessment by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bears out, there will still be an additional 11 weeks to 13 weeks of flu circulating across the country. “In general, we see things peaking right about now, but that means there is still a whole lot more flu to go,” Dan Jernigan, [director of the influenza division at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases]  said. ‘In addition, there are other strains of influenza still to show up that could be a major cause of disease.’

That may already be happening. The CDC is starting to see infections caused by the H1N1 strain of the virus in states grappling with high levels of the H3N2 strain, the predominant version this season. In addition, Jernigan said, yet another type of flu caused by influenza B viruses is expected to show up later in the season.

H3N2 has compounded the damage usually wrought by the annual flu outbreak. It’s known for both its severity and ability to evade the protection provided by vaccinations that are typically more effective against the other types of flu.” (Source)

Hospitals Scrambling to Limit Exposure

With flu-related deaths continually rising, some hospitals are experiencing five times the number of influenza patients than they typically see and many medical facilities are introducing protocols to help limit flu exposure to the healthy population.

Some hospitals have set up triage stations outside of the ER for patients suffering from the flu. This will help screen, examine and if needed, admit flu patients. Both Loma Linda University Medical Center and La Mesa Hospital in California have done this to help limit flu-infected patients from entering the hospital and provide more expedient care.

Other protocols that medical centers are implementing are limiting visitors from entering the hospital. The University of Chicago hospital was one of the first to announce a flu contingency for the patients. Weeks ago, when the flu season was just coming to its peak, the hospital announced it “will not allow children under age 12 and those with a fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose or nasal congestion will not be allowed to visit patients. More hospitals around the country are adopting similar protocols and limiting visitors exposure to patients who have flu-like symptoms.

How the Flu is Spread

Experts at the CDC believe the flu is spread three different ways.

• Person-to-Person – Influenza viruses are most likely spread from person to person primarily through large-particle respiratory droplet transmission (e.g., when an infected person coughs or sneezes or talks) and can travel up to six feet through the air.


• Hand Transfer – Hand transfer of the influenza virus is also not out of the realm of possibility. Touching contaminated surfaces or objects (shaking someone’s hand or coming in contact with an object they have touched and left the virus on) can also spread the flu. Using soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizers help to prevent the spread of the flu in this way.


• Airborne Transmission – This type of flu transmission can also occur; however, the relative contribution of the different modes of influenza transmission is unclear. Airborne transmission over longer distances, such as from one patient room to another is thought not to occur.

Limit High-Risk Flu Prone Areas

We all know the importance of washing our hands during the flu season, but it’s should be emphasized that avoiding crowded places can also prevent the flu. Shopping malls, airplanes, bus stations, houses of worship, concert halls and residential living quarters like nursing homes, and college dormitories are all flu-prone areas. Moreover, introducing children to these environments only increases your risk of catching the flu. Children exhale larger amounts of virus and they are able to transmit the virus for even longer periods than adults.  That said, preschools and schools often spread the flu quickly due to the close contact and lack of frequent hand washing children tend to have.

Hospitals and medical offices are also high-risk areas where one can come in contact with the flu. Pay attention to “high touch surfaces” such as doorknobs, light switches, telephones, table surfaces, railings, and handles can all be infected with the flu virus. Other high touch areas are subway or bus poles, ATM machines, pens and pencils from banks and stores, etc. The best way to combat this is by frequently disinfecting your hands and taking necessary precautions. If you feel that you may have contracted the flu and need to go out in public, wear a face mask.

With an ineffective flu vaccine, medical care facilities stretched thin, flu medicine shortages, and new flu strains on the horizon this could be the perfect storm. Extra precautions must be made. Limit your exposure to the flu by avoiding crowded places and high touch surfaces. As well, if you feel you are coming down with the flu, stay home and do not risk infecting others. With 11 weeks left in the flu season, this could quickly become a health crisis.

The post New Flu Strains Threaten Public as CDC Admits to Flu Medicine Shortage appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

FLU OUTBREAK: Now Impacting 46 States, Epidemic is ‘Widespread’

This year’s strain of the flu is now widespread, spanning 46 states, and can make you fatally sick.  Coupled with how fast the flu has struck, an ineffective vaccine, and how early it hit, this year is shaping up to be one of the worst ones yet for the flu virus.

The strain responsible for the outbreak is H3N2, a particularly deadly variety of influenza and the number of cases have spiked, with 46 states now reporting widespread activity, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The CDC also claims that at least 13 children have died from the flu since October when the season began to really get into full swing.

California has been particularly hard hit, with at least 27 deaths of people under 65 attributed to the flu, according to reports. As the number of cases continues to climb there, hospitals are beginning to run out of Tamiflu, the anti-viral medication used to treat the illness.

The most identified strain of the virus is influenza A (H3N2). According to a CDC emergency health advisory released December 27, 83 percent of reported cases were N3N2, a strain associated with more hospitalizations and deaths in those over 65 years of age and in young children compared to other age groups.

During this year’s flu season in Australia, the vaccine was only 10 percent effective. The CDC still says you should get the flu shot because it will lessen the suffering from symptoms should you contract the flu, even though it will make you sicker in later years. 

“How well the vaccine works can depend in part on the match between the vaccine virus used to produce the vaccine and the circulating viruses that season,” the CDC notes. “It’s not possible to predict what viruses will be most predominant during the upcoming season.” The agency also noted that the vaccine is ineffective due to the mutative nature of this year’s flu strain.

The CDC recommends that all people over the age of five get the shot to reduce the symptoms of the virus.  “It’s not too late to get a flu vaccine — as long as flu is spreading vaccination should continue,” the CDC’s Kristen Nordlund told weather.com. “It’s important to know that it takes about two weeks for protection to set in.”

*This is not to say you should or should not get the flu shot.  You should, however, do some research, and know the risks, side effects, and possible complications down the line should you chose to get or not get this year’s flu shot. This should help you come to the right conclusion for yourself.

This Year’s Flu Vaccine Is Ineffective Again: ‘This Will Be A Pretty Bad Flu Season’

Medical officials are sounding the alarm that this year’s flu season could be a bad one. Although it’s early, they have already noticed that the vaccine created is going to be mostly ineffective.

According to CNN, last year’s seasonal flu vaccine effectiveness was just 42%. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated those results.  That’s better than other years’ vaccines too.  Even if vaccinated, people had very little protection against the flu anyway and it’s causing concern.

Each year before flu season begins, a vaccine is made based on whichever virus strains are expected to circulate. The selected seed strains are distributed to vaccine manufacturers, which produce their formulations and make them available to healthcare professionals before the season begins. During the 2015-16 season, vaccine effectiveness was 47%, but for the 2014-15 season, effectiveness was just 19%, according to the CDC. While the overall effectiveness of last season’s vaccine was 42%, it was only 34% effective against the H3N2 viruses that dominated the season.

The limited effectiveness in last year’s vaccine was due to a mutation that occurred in the influenza A (H3N2) vaccine strain, according to a study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This vaccine mutation resulted from an egg-based manufacturing process commonly used today.  And this year’s vaccine is also far less than perfect, said Scott Hensley, author of the new study and an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Add to that, he said, “this could end up being a pretty bad flu season.”

Although it’s too early to speculate which viruses will become dominant in the United States over the course of the coming flu season, Hensley said, “but it’s starting to look like it will be H3 viruses.” H3 viruses are influenza A viruses. “There are the A group of viruses and the B groups,” said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University. “The A groups are the ones that usually are responsible for large epidemics … whereas the B flu strains usually smolder along. They always cause illness — it can be just as severe as the A strains — but they don’t produce large outbreaks.”

Even though the flu shot isn’t effective, Hensley is still pushing people to get vaccinated saying it’s still the best chance you’ve got, but warnings that the vaccine is not effective are not really convincing people to get vaccinated.  Why pay for a shot just to get the flu anyway?

Making a better vaccine isn’t going to happen soon either.  “Most of the infrastructure to produce vaccines in the US is based on chicken eggs,” Hensley said. There are good reasons for this, including the fact that egg-based propagation allows manufacturers to quickly produce large quantities of vaccine. Though egg adaptations have always been a problem, beginning last year, it had become a “huge problem,” he said. “As soon as you try to grow this virus in eggs, within a few hours, the virus will acquire this kind of mutation.”

This is not an easy problem to fix, he said. To produce vaccines in cells means “a very expensive process for companies to just change their overall manufacturing process,” Hensley explained. “You can’t really do that on the drop of a dime.”