Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
This Year's Flu Shot Provides Flimsy Protection Against Mild Case: CDC
NBC News: This Season's Flu Vaccine Was A Poor Match For The Virus, CDC Reports
This season's flu vaccine offers meager protection against mild cases of influenza, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. Against the most common flu strain circulating this season, the flu shot reduced a person's chance of getting a mild case by 16 percent, which is "considered not statistically significant," the CDC authors wrote, though the shots should offer some protection against more severe illness. (Lovelace Jr., 3/10)
Bloomberg: Even With a Flu Shot, You Still Might Get a Mild Case This Year
Vaccination is still recommended for people older than 6 months as long as the virus is circulating, the CDC said. The shots can still prevent serious cases, hospitalizations, intensive-care admissions and death, and may work against other strains arising later in the season, the authors said. ... Widespread focus on the pandemic and public concerns about shots to prevent Covid may have also had an impact on vaccination rates. Doses distributed this season as of the third week in February fell 10% compared with a year ago, according to the CDC’s website. (Adegbesan and Muller, 3/10)
Also —
CIDRAP: Global Flu Activity Continues To Decline
A new global flu update from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows declining activity in most world regions but increased H3N2 activity was reported in parts of South America. Of respiratory samples that tested positive at national flu labs in the middle 2 weeks of February, 68.6% were influenza A. Of subtyped influenza A viruses, 88.9% were H3N2. Of the type B viruses for which lineage was determined, 100% belonged to the B-Victoria lineage. (3/10)
