I read this on American Medical Association newsletter and thought I'd share...
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Leading the News
U.S. saw most flu deaths in over a decade last winter
The New York Times (10/1, McNeil) reports that “more than 80,000 Americans died of the flu in the winter of 2017-2018, the highest number in over a decade, federal health officials said last week.” Although 90 percent of those deaths were in people over age 65, “the flu also killed 180 young children and teenagers, more than in any other year since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began using its current surveillance methods.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
(10/1, Washinigton) mentions that last season’s flu vaccine “was about
40 percent effective, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes
of Health,” adding that “there’s no way to predict if the upcoming flu
season, which runs October through spring, will be better or worse,
experts say.” The article
says researchers are developing a universal flu shot in tandem with a
seasonal vaccine, and “there’s also a new, fast-acting drug that appears
to shorten the duration of flu symptoms” and is under FDA review with a
decision expected soon.
