Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'We Were Hoping To Have Better News': Flu Continues To Get Worse For Yet Another Week
The Washington Post: This Flu Season Has Now Reached Pandemic Levels (But It's Not Technically A Pandemic)
This flu season is turning out to be so intense that the number of people seeking care at doctors' offices and emergency rooms has surged to levels not reported since the peak of the 2009 swine flu pandemic, federal officials said Friday. For yet another week, the flu continues to get worse. “We were hoping to have better news,” said Anne Schuchat, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “This does not mean we’re having a pandemic,” Schuchat said. “But it is a signal of how very intense the flu season has been. We may be on track to break some recent records.” (Sun and Bever, 2/9)
NPR: CDC: 1 In 10 Deaths Last Week Caused By Flu Or Pneumonia
The peak of the flu season could still be several weeks away, federal health officials cautioned Friday. "We may be on track to break some recent records," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly all states are still reporting widespread flu activity, with less severe reports only coming from Oregon and Hawaii. (Harris, 2/9)
The Washington Post: 2018 Flu: Outbreaks Spread With More Deaths In Nasty Season
Angie Barwise had come down with the flu around the holidays. Days after Christmas, the 58-year-old Texas mother and grandmother was diagnosed with influenza, along with bronchitis and strep, her family told Fox affiliate KDFW. Doctors gave her antibiotics and Tamiflu, an antiviral medication used to help treat the flu, and, soon after, she started to bounce back. But almost exactly a month later, her family said, she was in the emergency room — this time, with a different strain of the virus. (Bever, 2/9)
Los Angeles Times: Flu Deaths Reach A High, But Outbreak Shows Signs Of Easing
California health officials said Friday that 36 Californians under the age of 65 died of the flu in the first week of February — more than in any other week this season. The flu season nationwide is considered among the worst in a decade. Hospitals in California set up tents to triage flu patients, many pharmacies ran out of flu medicines and the death toll has been unusually high. Gabriella Chabot, a student at La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks, was among those who died of complications of the flu. (Karlamangla, 2/9)
Bloomberg: Historic Flu Season Drives Sales Across The Health-Care Industry
A historically bad flu season has sent Americans to the doctor in droves -- and given a boost to companies across the health-care business. Hospitalization rates for flu have reached record levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rapid spread of the illness is worrisome, with a higher-than-normal number of deaths related to flu and pneumonia, including 53 children. (Levingston, 2/9)
And in news from the states —
Dallas Morning News: 35-Year-Old Texas Teacher On Life Support After Contracting Two Flu Strains
A special education teacher from Central Texas is on life support at a Dallas hospital after she contracted two strains of the flu. The virus caused Crystal Whitley, 35, to develop sepsis, pneumonia and MRSA, a type of staph infection that is resistant to several antibiotics, WFAA-TV (Channel 8) reports. The Mullin woman got the flu shot in October after giving birth to her son, has no underlying medical conditions and stays physically active. But two days after she was diagnosed with the flu Jan. 22, she was airlifted from Mullin, which is about 100 miles west of Waco, to Baylor Scott & White in Dallas on a ventilator. (Ballor, 2/11)
The Star Tribune: Klobuchar Seeks More Resources To Fight Flu Amid Deadly Outbreak
In the midst of one of the worst flu outbreaks in years, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said Sunday she wants to increase research aimed at developing a more effective flu vaccine. So far in Minnesota this flu season, more than 3,800 influenza-related hospitalizations have been reported, and the season is only half over, she said. For the entire previous flu season, the total was 3,700. (Pheifer, 2/11)
Seattle Times: ‘Things Are Improving’: What You Need To Know About Flu Season In Washington State
While the nation grapples with the worst flu season in nearly a decade, the bug is seemingly losing momentum in Washington state. Overall, health-care providers statewide are seeing a downward trend of patients seeking help for flu symptoms in recent days, said Dr. Vivian Hawkins, an influenza coordinator at the state Department of Health. Communities or isolated areas, though, may still be experiencing high rates. (Lee, 2/9)
Georgia Health News: Flu Refuses To Wane, Has Now Killed 66 In Georgia
Georgia’s flu-related death toll this season now stands at 66, with two confirmed child deaths, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. The agency total means that 15 more deaths in the state were confirmed during the week of Jan. 28 through Feb. 3, the latest for which figures are available. (Miller, 2/10)
Sacramento Bee: So Far, 163 People Did Not Survive Flu Season In California
Influenza has now killed 163 people in California, according to statistics released Friday by the state Department of Public Health. The number has not risen so high this early in the flu season since 2013-2014 when more than 350 people had died within a comparable period. (Anderson, 2/9)
