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Oct. 10, 2022
[snip]
Health care staffing is already stretched as respiratory virus activity is picking up.
Hospitals nationwide are preparing for another winter with Covid — the first one that's also expected to include high levels of influenza and other respiratory illnesses that have simmered quietly in the background for the past two years.
The convergence of viruses is hitting health care systems as they're forced to reckon with staffing shortages that worsened during the pandemic.
How well do Covid boosters work?
That prediction reflects what is known so far about how the latest Covid vaccines work. While the shots may not prevent a person from getting sick following an infection, they have been shown throughout the pandemic to keep infected people out of the hospital and from dying.
The vast majority of Covid cases circulating now are an omicron subvariant, BA.5. The latest version of the Covid vaccine targets BA.5, but since its debut in September, fewer than 4% of people eligible for the extra shot have received it.
The Commonwealth Fund recently predicted that more than 745,000 Covid-related hospitalizations and more than 75,000 such deaths could be avoided, if more people got the bivalent shot.
The U.S. is also seeing the beginning of what is expected to be the first rough flu season in years. While overall numbers remain low, the CDC reported an increase in positive flu tests last week.
“It’s very likely that we’re going to see influenza roaring back with a vengeance this winter,” said Dr. Dan Uslan, co-chief infection prevention officer for UCLA Health in Los Angeles.
What's happening in Australia could be a preview: The country is exiting its worst flu season in at least five years, according to the country’s Department of Health and Aged Care.
“Data from the Southern Hemisphere are not good,” Binnicker, of the Mayo Clinic, said. “We need to double down on prevention measures,” such as masking and physical distancing.
The CDC recommends an annual flu shot for everyone aged 6 months and older. Children younger than age 9 who have never had a flu vaccine, the CDC said, should get two this year, at least four weeks apart.
Full article:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/flu-covid-winter-hospitals-brace-bad-season-rcna50616
[snip]
Health care staffing is already stretched as respiratory virus activity is picking up.
Hospitals nationwide are preparing for another winter with Covid — the first one that's also expected to include high levels of influenza and other respiratory illnesses that have simmered quietly in the background for the past two years.
The convergence of viruses is hitting health care systems as they're forced to reckon with staffing shortages that worsened during the pandemic.
How well do Covid boosters work?
That prediction reflects what is known so far about how the latest Covid vaccines work. While the shots may not prevent a person from getting sick following an infection, they have been shown throughout the pandemic to keep infected people out of the hospital and from dying.
The vast majority of Covid cases circulating now are an omicron subvariant, BA.5. The latest version of the Covid vaccine targets BA.5, but since its debut in September, fewer than 4% of people eligible for the extra shot have received it.
The Commonwealth Fund recently predicted that more than 745,000 Covid-related hospitalizations and more than 75,000 such deaths could be avoided, if more people got the bivalent shot.
The U.S. is also seeing the beginning of what is expected to be the first rough flu season in years. While overall numbers remain low, the CDC reported an increase in positive flu tests last week.
“It’s very likely that we’re going to see influenza roaring back with a vengeance this winter,” said Dr. Dan Uslan, co-chief infection prevention officer for UCLA Health in Los Angeles.
What's happening in Australia could be a preview: The country is exiting its worst flu season in at least five years, according to the country’s Department of Health and Aged Care.
“Data from the Southern Hemisphere are not good,” Binnicker, of the Mayo Clinic, said. “We need to double down on prevention measures,” such as masking and physical distancing.
The CDC recommends an annual flu shot for everyone aged 6 months and older. Children younger than age 9 who have never had a flu vaccine, the CDC said, should get two this year, at least four weeks apart.
Full article:
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/flu-covid-winter-hospitals-brace-bad-season-rcna50616
