flu

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Flu Season Shaping Up to Be Nasty

We've reached the epidemic stage earlier than usual

(Newser) - Brace yourself: All signs point to a particularly bad flu season, reports the Upshot blog at the New York Times . For one thing, the CDC says the nation has reached the epidemic stage, and while that designation usually arrives every year, it's earlier than normal. The Verge notes that...

Flu Shot May Not Protect You From This Year's Flu

This year's concoction isn't stemming H3N2 'variant' virus

(Newser) - You should still get a flu shot, CDC officials recommend—it just might not be as effective as they'd hoped, NBC News reports. Most cases of the virus this year are the result of a mutated variation of the H3N2 strain —so far this season's most commonly...

Isolated Tribe Makes First Contact, Promptly Catches Flu

The 5 men, 2 women all contracted influenza in matter of days

(Newser) - When an isolated tribe emerged from the Amazon in recent weeks and initiated contact with Brazilian scientists in the village of Ashaninka near the Peruvian border, some called the move "potentially tragic" —and, indeed, though they were quickly quarantined for their own safety, all five men and two...

Swine Flu&#39;s 2009 Death Toll Not 19K&mdash;It Was 203K
Swine Flu's 2009 Death Toll
Not 19K—It Was 203K
new study

Swine Flu's 2009 Death Toll Not 19K—It Was 203K

New research finds H1N1 epidemic killed 10 times more than estimated

(Newser) - WHO initially reported 18,631 lab-confirmed deaths from 2009's "swine flu" epidemic—but a new study by epidemiologists finds that H1N1 actually killed as many as 203,000 people. The researchers looked at respiratory deaths in 20 countries and then used that data to calculate a global figure....

Flu During Pregnancy Hikes Risk of Bipolar Baby

But risk is pretty small regardless

(Newser) - Apparently getting sick while you're pregnant sucks in even more ways than you realized. Children are more likely to develop bipolar disorder later in life if their mothers caught the flu while pregnant, a new study published yesterday in JAMA Psychiatry suggests. The effect is fairly small, amounting to...

Burt Reynolds in ICU With the Flu

Actor is doing better, says his rep

(Newser) - This year's flu has its most high-profile patient: Burt Reynolds. The 76-year-old actor is in a Florida intensive care unit after becoming dehydrated, reports CNN . A representative says he is doing better, however, and should be in a regular room soon. ("They are taking care of him and...

Thanks, Australia: Stomach Bug Spreading in US

Cases from new strain of norovirus on the rise, says CDC

(Newser) - A new strain of a highly contagious stomach virus from Australia is making lives miserable across the US, says the CDC. This particular strain is now responsible for most (58%) of the norovirus cases being reported in the country, reports WebMD and USA Today . The bug brings the usual happy...

Only Tennessee, Hawaii Still Escaping Flu

But CDC says it's on the wane in some areas

(Newser) - Nine more children or teens have died of the flu, bringing the nation's total this season to 29, health officials said today. In a typical season, about 100 children die of the flu, so it is not known whether this year will be better or worse than usual. (This...

Flu Season So Bad, Vaccine a Hot Commodity

In some places, people having trouble finding the shot

(Newser) - How bad is this year's flu outbreak? So bad that some places are running low on flu vaccine. USA Today has reports from around the country of people having difficulty finding the shot. One Las Vegas woman reports trying six locations before finding a grocery store drug center that...

Flu Spreads to 47 States
 Flu Spreads to 47 States 

Flu Spreads to 47 States

But it seems to decline in some places

(Newser) - The CDC rolled out a mix of good news/bad news on this year's flu outbreak today:
  • The bad: The number of states reporting widespread activity rose from 41 to 47 over the week. The far West (Arizona, California, Nevada, Guam, and Hawaii) has largely escaped the brunt of it
...

Boston Declares Flu Emergency

City has seen four deaths among the elderly

(Newser) - Move Boston to the top of the list of cities getting slammed by this year's unusually severe flu . The city declared a public health emergency today, reports the Boston Herald . Officials made the move in part to encourage residents to get flu shots, and the city was working with...

This Flu Season Is a Doozy
 This Flu Season Is a Doozy 

This Flu Season Is a Doozy

Across the country, many are under the weather

(Newser) - As predicted , this year's flu season is already a doozy: It features a more severe strain, it started earlier, it's hitting more people, and it has affected a wider swath of the country than usual, USA Today reports. Flu season started earlier this year than it has...

This Year&#39;s Flu Season Could Be Really Ugly
 This Year's 
 Flu Season 
 Could Be 
 Really Ugly 
in case you missed it

This Year's Flu Season Could Be Really Ugly

Dominant strain is a harsh one and off to an early start

(Newser) - Flu season is off to its earliest start in almost a decade, and that could signal rough, tissue-filled days ahead. Five Southern states saw a high number of doctor visits for flu-like symptoms in late November, months earlier than usual, and that has federal health officials warning that we could...

Autism Linked to Fever, Flu in Pregnant Women
Autism Linked to Fever, Flu
in Pregnant Women
study says

Autism Linked to Fever, Flu in Pregnant Women

Pregnant woman who suffered from either were at higher risk

(Newser) - A new study finds a link between illness during pregnancy and autism, but experts are already urging caution when interpreting the results. Danish researchers found that expecting mothers who suffered from the flu were twice as likely to have a child who developed an autism spectrum disorder, while those who...

Bird Flu Jumps to Seals, Could Threaten Humans

Scientists studying new strain that moves from seal to seal

(Newser) - A new strain of bird flu you should be worried about? Maybe: In New England last fall, 162 harbor seal pups were killed by H3N8, a flu subtype that has crossed over from birds to dogs and horses in the past. Other strains of flu have previously crossed over from...

America's Sickest Cities

Hint: Florida's not the place to be during flu season

(Newser) - Think spring is around the corner and the end to sneezing and sick ickyness is in sight? Think again, because there's lots of flu left to pass around. The Daily Beast runs down the 20 sickest cities, as broken down by health ranking, vaccination coverage, influenza deaths, and how much...

Coming Soon: Universal Flu Vaccine

Drug is successfully tested on humans for the first time

(Newser) - Soon, you may be able to forget about getting a flu shot each year—because just one jab could cover you for all strains of the illness. Oxford University scientists tested a universal flu vaccine on humans for the first time, and found it to be successful, the Guardian reports....

Flu Plan Directs Docs to Take Sickest Off Life Support

Plan could grant legal exemption to extreme rationing in case of disaster pandemic

(Newser) - Authorities planning for a severe flu outbreak are drawing up rules for life-saving ventilators that instruct doctors to take severely ill patients off life support and give the equipment to those with a better chance of survival. The plan, to be used in an outbreak comparable to the pandemic that...

Swine Flu Shots Will Start Next Month: Sebelius

US 'on track' to have plenty of vaccine by flu season

(Newser) - The nation's first round of swine flu shots could begin sooner than expected, with some vaccine available as early as the first week of October, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today. Sebelius said she is confident the vaccine will be available early enough to beat the peak...

Flu Shots Decrease Use of Antibiotics

Doctors prescribe them less when the shots are available

(Newser) - Providing flu shots to the public decreases the prescription of antibiotics, say Canadian researchers. The results of a 10-year study in Ontario will be good news to public health officials who worry that over-prescription of antibiotics is creating more resistant bacteria, reports Miller-McCune. Researchers found that doctors prescribed 64% fewer...

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