Composition Of The 201819 Influenza Vaccine
The Food and Drug Administrations Vaccines and Related Biologic Products Advisory Committee recommended that the 201819 trivalent vaccine to be used in the United States contain an A/Michigan/45/2015 Apdm09-like virus, an A/Singapore/INFIMH-160019/2016 A-like virus, and a B/Colorado/06/2017-like virus . The quadrivalent vaccine recommendation included the trivalent vaccine viruses as well as a B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus. The B component recommendation represents a change in the influenza B/Victoria lineage component recommended for the 20172018 Northern Hemisphere and 2018 Southern Hemisphere influenza vaccines. The B component change was made because of the increasing global circulation of an antigenically drifted B/Victoria lineage virus . The A recommendation represents an update to the 20172018 Northern Hemisphere vaccines but is the same A virus recommended for the 2018 Southern Hemisphere vaccine. The decision to update the A component was not made to address antigenic drift, but rather because the egg-propagated A/Singapore vaccine virus is antigenically more similar to circulating viruses than the egg-propagated A/Hong Kong vaccine virus recommended for the Northern Hemisphere 20172018 vaccine. Vaccine recommendations were based on factors including global influenza virologic and epidemiologic surveillance, genetic characterization, antigenic characterization, and the candidate vaccine viruses that are available for production.
Why Are Estimates On This Page Different From Previously Published And Reported Estimates For 2017
The estimates on this page have been updated from an earlier report published in December 2018 based on more recently available information. There is a trade-off between timeliness and accuracy of the burden estimates. To provide timely burden estimates to the public, clinicians, and public health decision-makers, we use preliminary data that may lead to over- or under-estimates of the true burden. However, each seasons estimates will be finalized when data on testing practices and deaths for that season are available. More information on why preliminary burden and burden averted estimates may change is available.
Sensitivity Analysis For Vaccine Coverage
Missing responses to the influenza vaccination question were more common in the telephone survey in 20172018 compared with 20162017. We conducted sensitivity analyses to assess the effect of differences in vaccine coverage on estimates of prevented hospitalizations . We explored the following scenarios for age groupspecific coverage: as observed in 20162017 20172018 coverage assuming individuals with missing responses were vaccinated 20172018 coverage assuming individuals with missing responses were unvaccinated and reducing coverage by 3%17% to account for overestimation by self-report .
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Edit War Cdc Estimate For The Upper Limit Of The Death Toll
An IP user is constantly editing the upper limit for the death toll in this article and in List of epidemics the cited CDC references show a range of 46,000-95,000. The individual is constantly editing this and I’m worried about an edit war per WP:EW. Note that I’ll be posting in the talk section for that article as well. The IP editor doesn’t seem to seeing the edit history . I’ve messaged the IP user via their talk page but I don’t think that will be of any help. I’m unsure of what to do since the guidelines don’t seem mention what to do regarding the potential for edit warring with IP editors. I’m confident that the user won’t see because they won’t bother to look at the talk page either. Can anyone offer help or guidance? Global Cerebral Ischemia 17:14, 17 May 2020
Current Activity Still Low
In its weekly report covering flu activity through last week, the CDC said disease activity is still low nationally, with only four states reporting local flu activity: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Oregon.
All three strains are circulating, though 2009 H1N1 is the most commonly identified virus.
Clinic visits for flulike illness last week were at 1.5%, remaining well below the national baseline of 2.2%. All of the CDC’s regions were below their specific baselines.
The percentage of deaths from pneumonia and flu was 5.3%, below the epidemic threshold of 5.9%. No new pediatric flu deaths were reported, keeping the total at one so far.
At clinical labs, the percentage of respiratory samples that tested positive for flu was 0.6%.
The CDC recommends that everyone age 6 months and older be vaccinated against flu by the end of October.
See also:
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Antiviral Susceptibility Of Influenza Viruses
CDC tested 4,619 influenza viruses from the United States collected since October 1, 2017, for resistance to the influenza neuraminidase inhibitor antiviral medications recommended for use against seasonal influenza . Among 1,147 influenza Apdm09 viruses tested for oseltamivir and peramivir susceptibility, 11 were resistant to both drugs and contain a known marker of resistance in the neuraminidase gene segment . Among 786 influenza Apdm09 viruses also tested for zanamivir susceptibility, no resistant viruses were detected. All 2,354 influenza A viruses tested for oseltamivir and zanamivir susceptibility were susceptible to both medications. No peramivir-resistant viruses were detected among 1,248 A viruses tested. All 1,118 influenza B viruses tested were susceptible to all three medications. High levels of resistance to the adamantanes persist among influenza A viruses. Adamantane drugs are not recommended for use against influenza at this time.
Healthhere’s How The Flu Virus Kills Some People So Quickly
And they are likely an underestimate, as not every single flu death is properly recorded or reported. As reporting of deaths in children can be delayed, its possible that additional flu-related deaths in children during the 2017-2018 season will be reported to CDC, the agency said.
About half the children who died had another health condition, but half did not. Most children died within seven days of symptom onset, the CDC said.
Its not clear why this past influenza season was so severe. The strains that were circulating were not new or unusual. While the flu vaccines that were available were not highly effective giving about 36 percent protection against infection, the CDC said they did save lives.
During the 201617 season, vaccination averted an estimated 5.29 million illnesses 2.64 million medical visits, and 84,700 influenza-associated hospitalizations, the CDC said.
Annual influenza vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent influenza illness.
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Update: Influenza Activity In The United States During The 201718 Season And Composition Of The 201819 Influenza Vaccine
Weekly / June 8, 2018 / 67 634â642
Rebecca Garten, PhD1 Lenee Blanton, MPH1 Anwar Isa Abd Elal1 Noreen Alabi, MPH1 John Barnes, PhD1 Matthew Biggerstaff, ScD1 Lynnette Brammer, MPH1 Alicia P. Budd, MPH1 Erin Burns, MA1 Charisse N. Cummings, MPH1 Todd Davis, PhD1 Shikha Garg, MD1 Larisa Gubareva, PhD1 Yunho Jang, PhD1 Krista Kniss, MPH1 Natalie Kramer1 Stephen Lindstrom, PhD1 Desiree Mustaquim, MPH1 Alissa OHalloran, MSPH1 Wendy Sessions, MPH1 Calli Taylor, MPH1 Xiyan Xu, MD1 Vivien G. Dugan, PhD1 Alicia M. Fry, MD1 David E. Wentworth, PhD1 Jacqueline Katz, PhD1 Daniel Jernigan, MD1
What is already known about this topic?
CDC collects, compiles, and analyzes data on influenza activity and viruses in the United States.
What is added by this report?
The 201718 influenza season was a high severity, A-predominant season. Influenza activity indicators were notable for the volume and intensity of influenza cases that occurred in most of the country at the same time. Record hospitalization rates and high numbers of influenza-associated pediatric deaths also were reported.
What are the implications for public health practice?
Receiving a seasonal flu vaccine each year remains the best way to protect against seasonal influenza and its potentially severe consequences. Testing for seasonal influenza viruses and monitoring for novel influenza A virus infections should continue year-round.
United States Flu Season
The 20172018 United States flu season lasted from late 2017 through early 2018. The predominant strain of influenza was H3N2. During the spring months of MarchMay, influenza B virus became dominant.
In all states except Hawaii and Oregon, the distribution of influenza was indicated as widespread, including 32 states that had high flu activity. The flu season was exacerbated by a shortage of IV bags caused by IV bag plant closures in Puerto Rico following Hurricane María. The CDC estimates that 52,000 Americans died due to influenza during the 2017-2018 flu season.
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Pregnant Women And Children
Speaking at the same conference, Dr. Laura E. Riley, professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine, said that less than half of all pregnant women 49% received a flu shot last year. She explained that during pregnancy, even a healthy pregnancy, the immune system is not working full throttle.
Pregnant women who get the flu do very poorly, said Riley. It is critical that we help pregnant women not get the flu. When flu strikes during pregnancy, theres a greater likelihood of hospitalization for the mother-to-be, she said.
Flu during pregnancy can also harm the baby, she said. High fever for an extended period can cause birth defects and lead to premature birth.
At every trimester, the flu vaccine is safe and effective for both pregnant women and their fetuses, plus it protects babies after they are born, preventing flu in the first six months of their lives when they are too young to get their own flu shot, she said.
Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, another conference speaker and chief of digital innovation and digital health at Seattle Childrens Hospital, stressed that its very important for children to get vaccinated.
Kids have a lot of snot, they have a lot of drool and they go to school, she said over laughter from the audience. We love them, but they are a lot of the reason flu moves around the community.
Talk: 20172018 United States Flu Season
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Already Moderately Severe Flu Season In Us Could Get Worse
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This winters flu season is turning into a moderately severe one that might get worse because of an imperfect vaccine and steady cold weather, flu experts and public health officials said this week.
The flu is now widespread across the country and the peak of transmission probably occurred during the Christmas-New Years holiday week, just as many people were crowded into planes, buses and cars or in large family gatherings, said Dr. Daniel B. Jernigan, director of the influenza division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 80 percent of cases are of the H3N2 strain, which caused many hospitalizations and deaths this year in Australia, where winter comes in July and August.
H3N2 is a bad virus, Dr. Jernigan said. We hate H3N2.
Compared to H1N1, the other seasonal Type A strain, and to B strains that usually arrive late in the season, H3N2 tends to kill more of the very young and very old, he said.
Warnings about the Killer Aussie Flu were raised as far back as September mostly by British media outlets.
However, those fears are probably exaggerated because of two important differences between this country and Australia, said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease.
Preparing Your Facility For The Flu Season
Influenza is aserious respiratory disease caused by influenza viruses that can cause mild tosevere illness. Seasonal flu activity can begin as early as October and lingeras late as May. During the 20172018 flu season, the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention estimates that the flu was associated with nearly49 million illnesses, more than 22 million medical visits, nearly one millionhospitalizations, and nearly 80,000 deaths in the U.S.
The severity of diseaseduring the flu season can create a tremendous burden on the healthcare system.As a result, it is important to plan for the upcoming flu season, which can bea daunting task. In order to prevent the spread of flu, most healthcarefacilities have policies in place that limit visitors during the flu season.These policies often prohibit children ages 12 and under from entering thefacility or visiting patient care areas because children often carry viruseswithout exhibiting any signs or symptoms.
Everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccineincluding pregnant women and people with chronic health conditions. Below are some guiding principles to help infection preventionists prepare for the flu season. Vaccine-preventable diseases, such as the flu, are everybodys business!
Annualseasonal flu vaccine
Policies
Who is most vulnerable to theflu?
How do you prevent the spreadof flu?
Keep these points in mind when educating staff, patients, and visitors:
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How Much Flu Vaccine Was Produced And Distributed During The 2017
Flu vaccine is produced by private manufacturers, so supply depends on manufacturers. For the 2017-2018 season, manufacturers originally projected they would provide between 151 million and 166 million doses of injectable vaccine for the U.S. market. As of February 23, 2018, manufacturers reported having shipped approximately 155.3 million doses of flu vaccine a record number of flu vaccine doses distributed. More information about flu vaccine supply is available at Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Supply & Distribution.
Cdc Surveillance Information For The 2017
The 2017 to 2018 influenza season in the United States was a high-severity season with high levels of emergency department visits, according to a recently published Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Influenza A viruses were the predominant influenza strain through February 2018, with influenza B viruses predominating starting from March 2018.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compiles and analyzes data on influenza activity and viruses in the United States. In 2017, the CDC began using a new methodology to classify influenza severity, using 3 indicators: the percentage of visits to outpatient clinics for influenza-like illness from the US Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network , the rates of influenza-associated hospitalizations through the Influenza Hospitalizations Surveillance Network , and the percentage of deaths resulting from pneumonia or influenza from the CDCs National Center for Health Statistics.
This report summarizes US influenza activity from October 1, 2017, to May 19, 2018. According to this method, the severity of the 2017 to 2018 season was classified as high severity overall, as well as high severity for each age group.
During October 1, 2017, to May 19, 2018, public health laboratories tested 98,446 specimens, finding 54.6% positive for influenza virus .
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Antigenic And Genetic Characterization Of Influenza Viruses
Public health laboratories participating as U.S. WHO collaborating laboratories submit a subset of influenza-positive respiratory specimens to CDC for virus characterization through three National Influenza Reference Centers in the California, New York, and Wisconsin state public health laboratories. CDC characterizes influenza viruses through genomic sequencing and antigenic characterization . This process evaluates whether genetic changes in circulating viruses have led to antigenic drift away from the vaccine reference virus.
Influenza-positive specimens are sequenced using next-generation sequencing ¶ on the MiSeq System platform , using genomic enrichment practices adapted by CDC. Genomic data are analyzed to determine the genetic identity of circulating viruses and submitted to public databases .
CDC evaluates the antigenic similarity** between ferret antisera raised against reference viruses representing the recommended vaccine components of the Northern Hemisphere 201718 vaccine and circulating viruses isolated and propagated in mammalian cell culture. Since the 201415 season, many influenza A viruses propagated in mammalian cell culture have lacked sufficient hemagglutination titers for antigenic characterization using HI assays. Therefore, in addition to the use of the HI assay, a subset of influenza A viruses are antigenically characterized using a focus reduction assay to assess the ability of various antisera to neutralize infectivity of the test viruses.
Why Did The Estimates For The 2017
CDCs model used to estimate the burden of flu includes information collected about flu testing practices. Because current testing data was not available at the time of estimation , the estimates that were previously published on the CDC website were made using testing information from prior flu seasons.
Since then, complete information to estimate the burden of the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 flu seasons has become available. Final testing information from the 2017-2018 seasons indicated an increase in testing for flu across all age groups and the FluSurv-NET sites. Because the percent of individuals who were tested for flu was high in all age groups, the adjustment for under-detection of flu was lower and our burden estimates decreased. The estimates for the 2019-2020 season pull information from all past seasons including the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons and because our methods use the most conservative estimates of under-detection of flu, the 2019-2020 burden estimates also decreased. The 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 season estimates are now considered final however, the 2019-2020 burden estimates are still preliminary and may change as more information becomes available.
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