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A new COVID variant is circulating. Flu season is about to begin. Respiratory syncytial virus (known as RSV) is becoming a greater cause of hospitalizations. But this fall, something is different. The country has new vaccines for COVID, influenza and RSV, the three fall respiratory viruses that hospitalize and kill hundreds of thousands annually. “Go get those vaccines and it will make a dramatic difference in your getting sick this winter,” Dr. Ashish Jha, former White House COVID response coordinator, told NPR. “We are going to be dealing with respiratory viruses forever but we are getting better at building treatments...

CNN — Covid-19 certainly didn’t take a vacation this summer. Virus levels in the US have been on the rise for weeks, but it’s hard to know exactly how widely it’s spreading. Federal data suggests that the current increases have stayed far below earlier peaks and notable surges. But judging by word of mouth among family, friends and coworkers, it can seem like everyone knows someone who’s sick with Covid-19 right now. “We have several folks down with Covid, unfortunately,” one health-focused nonprofit told CNN when seeking comment for this story.

New pro sports teams bring more than a rooting interest to American cities — they also sparked a spike in flu deaths, according to a new study. Flu mortality jumped as much as nearly 25% in cities that picked up new sports franchises in baseball, basketball, football or hockey, economists at the West Virginia University found. “It’s important for sports fans to realize that there is some additional risk that they’re taking, now that we’re all acutely aware of airborne virus transmission or respiratory virus transmission…when they decide to go to a sporting event,” Brad Humphreys, a WVU economics professor...

UK scientists working at a state-of-the-art lab are preparing for bird flu to spread to people. Health chiefs today unveiled a top-secret super lab within Porton Down that aims to boost pandemic preparedness and create a vaccine within 100 days of a new virus taking off. Top scientists at the site confirmed they are readying the tools that would be needed if the H5N1 bird flu strain — which is behind an outbreak sweeping the world — took off in humans. There is no sign that the virus, which is thought to have killed millions of birds in Britain and...

COVID-19 cases are once again on the rise in the U.S., with data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing virus-related hospital admissions, positive test rates, and wastewater indicators trending upward. The virus has ebbed and flowed repeatedly since 2020—but this time is unique, since it’s the first notable uptick in spread since the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) officially ended in May, bringing to a close a variety of pandemic-era policies and programs. While much of the advice around COVID-19 stays the same, the post-PHE landscape does look a bit different. Here’s what to do...

The Flu did not disappear, it was simply rebranded as Covid. With further commentary from the longtime lead scientist of the CDC's molecular diagnostic laboratory. One of the biggest mysteries of “the pandemic” involves the supposed disappearance of the flu. Did the flu really disappear during the covid hysteria era, or is something else afoot? ... Now, during the confusion and panic of the last few years, there have been lots of explanations advanced about the supposed disappearance of the flu. The lockdowners and their credentialed institutions often claimed that masked worked (lol) to stop the flu, despite not working...

US health chiefs are investigating the death of a Brazilian woman who became the latest victim of swine flu. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials plan to probe samples collected from the patient, 42, who died from an H1N1 variant spreading in pigs. Her death earlier last month has sparked concern because she had no direct contact with pigs — which may signal onward transmission from someone else. Occasional spillovers of H1N1 swine flu are recorded every year in the US, normally linked to agricultural workers or fairs, but these rarely prove fatal. There were six cases recorded...

A deadly virus that few people even know exists is causing misery across intensive care units and pediatric hospitals, doctors warn. High rates of Covid, flu and even RSV during winter led to hospitals overflowing during winter during a situation dubbed a 'tripledemic'. But cases of human metapneumovirus (HMPV), which can cause bronchitis and pneumonia, shot up to record levels in spring, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s respiratory virus surveillance systems. It may partly explain why so many people tested negative for flu and Covid in recent months despite showing symptoms. Dr John Williams, a pediatrician...

Vaccine developers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) are enrolling healthy adult Americans to test an experimental universal influenza vaccine using mRNA technology.The Phase 1 trial will be conducted at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, the NIAID said on Monday. Researchers will test the experimental vaccine, dubbed H1ssF-3928 mRNA-LNP, for safety and its ability to induce an immune response.For this early-stage trial, the federal research agency is looking for up to 50 healthy volunteers aged 18 through 49. There will be three 10-participant groups receiving 10, 25, and 50 micrograms of the experimental vaccine, respectively....

ast fall, on a mink farm in Spain, H5N1 (avian influenza) likely spread across the animals. The outbreak resulted in the death or culling of the entire group of 50,000 minks. Why should you care? Because it may have marked the first known case of mammal-to-mammal transmission of the deadly virus known as the bird flu, according to a new study. And that doesn’t portend anything good for humans.

A universal vaccine that protects against all strains of the flu virus may be a step closer.The annual flu vaccine currently protects against four strains of the virus which scientists believe are most likely to be in circulation in the coming winter. But a vaccine that protects us from all types of flu — which kills between 10,000 and 30,000 people a year in the UK — is one of the holy grails of medicine. There are three different types of flu virus affecting humans — A, B and C, with various sub-types (including 29 of type A alone) which...

Some of you might have jumped with elation on Tuesday after hearing the news that the FDA had de-authorized the original series of COVID shots. What the agency is really doing, however, is reloading so it can enshrine the shots into the permanent immunization schedule and mix them with an ever-growing list of respiratory viral vaccines they are rolling out over the coming months. Now is the time for Congress to step on the gas pedal in opposing these shots, not tabling the issue as if it’s over. The FDA and CDC had a problem. There was no way to...

There is an untold story involving Bird Flu, gain of function research, the Gates foundation, and Ukrainian biolabs and it is time to tell it. As hundreds of millions of birds are killed due to Bird Flu "PCR outbreaks, Europe is warning of chicken and egg shortages, and many states have now outright banned the sale of chicks to the public. The largest egg producer in the US has culled birds and fired its workers. In this Ice Age Farmer exclusive, Christian breaks down the sordid story of this virus, and asks: will weaponized H5N1 be the next human pandemic…?

The flu season has been bad this year—and not just for people. Dog flu cases are on the rise in many areas of the U.S. this winter. In fact, veterinarians are suggesting that pet owners get their dogs vaccinated as soon as possible to potentially prevent this canine influenza. It is also advised that if you begin to notice symptoms in your dog like lethargy or coughing bring them in for a check-up. Although there are several reasons that your dog may develop a cough, it could also be one of the symptoms of the flu and is worth checking...

An outbreak of dog flu has struck some of America's best friends this winter. Veterinarians across America, including Philadelphia, North Texas, California and Florida are warning of a brutal canine influenza season. The dog flu can be severe in some cases, causing pneumonia and even death in pets. Around one-in-ten cases result in death. It spreads from animal to animal by barking, sneezing, and coughing through droplets in the air. Some kennels and doggy daycares have shut down temporarily or significantly ramped up cleaning protocols in response, and vets advise pet owners to get the canine flu vaccine. Humans are...

A massive international research collaboration that analyzed several dozen rigorous studies focusing on "physical interventions" against COVID-19 and influenza found that they provide little to no protection against infection or illness rates.The study, published in the peer-reviewed Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, is the strongest science to date refuting the basis for mask mandates worldwide.Nearly 60% of South Korea's population has now tested positive for COVID despite nearly three years of consistent universal masking with overwhelming compliance When will it be enough for "experts" to admit masks don't work? pic.twitter.com/LS0JF9niog — Ian Miller (@ianmSC) January 25, 2023And of course, the...

[snip] Before motorized vehicles, horses were the backbone of the transportation industry. And so the Great Epizootic of 1872, a horse epidemic in North America, is history that deserves to be remembered. [/snip]Horse Flu: The Great Epizootic of 1872 | 16:59The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered1.14M subscribers | 3,532 views | January 23, 2023

A Calgary-based family physician and urgent care doctor appeared on Canadian state media earlier this week to explain the alleged link between influenza, infection, and stroke. When explaining the linkage, Dr. Raj Bhardwaj of the University of Calgary noted his recent surprise at discovering that there is now reportedly a "stroke season." What are the details? Bhardwaj told CBC Calgary News that a stroke is ultimately when "the blood supply to the brain is compromised for some reason. It's basically a plumbing problem in the pipes that supply blood to your brain. And there's two things that could go wrong...

It’s not too late to get vaccinated. You can get the #mpox vaccine at the same time as your #flu and #COVID vaccines. Dr. Demetre Daskalakis encourages you to talk to your vaccinator about what is right for you. https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/vaccines/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fpoxvirus%2Fmonkeypox%2Fvaccines%2Fvaccine-basics.html https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/1616533650287329280?s=20&t=GZvd57UwL97jFdhT8uLZsA

The Centers for Disease Control are looking for new ways to determine the effectiveness of vaccines against seasonal respiratory diseases like COVID-19, and think the answer could be found in leveraging electronic health record data. The agency issued its Fiscal Year 2023 Broad Agency Announcement on Wednesday, calling for vendors to provide white papers outlining solutions that address 37 research topics posed by the CDC. “This effort will address knowledge gaps regarding the preventive benefit of currently available vaccines; aid in identification of populations who can benefit from enhanced vaccine strategies; and improve our ability to respond to seasonal respiratory...