"In the U.S., more than 8 percent of all visits to a health care provider in the week that ended December 27 were for respiratory illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's the highest rate the agency has recorded since it began keeping track in 1997. According to the CDC, so far this season the flu has contributed to an estimated 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, including nine children."
"This surge comes even as the CDC has rolled back its flu vaccine guidance for children. In early January the agency reversed its decade's long recommendation that everyone over the age of six months get vaccinated. The agency now advises parents to discuss influenza vaccination with their child's doctor. Last year, shortly after Robert F. Kennedy Jr, was sworn in as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the CDC canceled a promotion campaign encouraging flu vaccination that health officials had deemed effective."
In the week ending December 27, more than 8 percent of U.S. health-care visits were for respiratory illness, the highest rate recorded since 1997. So far this flu season an estimated 120,000 people have been hospitalized and about 5,000 people have died, including nine children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed a decade-long recommendation that everyone older than six months get vaccinated, instead advising parents to discuss influenza vaccination with their child's doctor. The CDC canceled a previously effective promotion campaign and removed related webpages after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became HHS Secretary. Much of the surge appears driven by an H3N2 subclade called K. Vaccinated people remain less likely to be hospitalized or die and may be less likely to infect others despite an imperfect vaccine match.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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