People pose with syringe with needle in front of displayed Pfizer logo in this illustration taken, December 11, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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BERLIN, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Pfizer said on Thursday it had submitted an application to Swissmedic for authorisation of a further bivalent COVID-19 vaccine.
The ready-to-use dispersion for injection contained both messenger RNA (mRNA) from the original Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and mRNA coding for the spike protein of Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, Pfizer said.
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Reporting by Kirsti KnolleEditing by Paul Carrel
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As Texas families head into the busy fall season, the best way to keep our communities protected against COVID-19 is for everyone to be fully vaccinated and boosted. More than 220 million Americans have been fully vaccinated. My recommendation is that if you or a family member have not been vaccinated, get vaccinated as soon as you can to keep yourselfand your communityhealthy.
Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe? Yes. COVID-19 vaccines have undergoneand continue to undergothe most intensive safety monitoring in U.S. history. And 96% of all practicing U.S. physicians have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
Can you get the virus from the vaccine? No. The vaccine does not contain the live virus, so you cannot get COVID-19 from the vaccine.
Did they rush the testing to get the vaccine approved quickly? No. Researchers have been studying and working with mRNA vaccines for decades. This includes studies for vaccines like the flu. This work made it possible for scientists to create the COVID-19 vaccine. Also, typically testing and manufacturing of vaccines are done in sequence, or sequentially. But for COVID-19 vaccines, testing and manufacturing were done in parallel, which saved a lot of time, thereby allowing much quicker availability.
What do I need to know about the updated COVID-19 boosters? The updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters are different from earlier COVID-19 vaccines because they are designed to protect against the original strain of COVID-19 plus the omicron variant.
The boosters are a single dose that uses the same mRNA technology as the original Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. People can get the updated booster as long as it has been at least two months since they completed any primary COVID-19 vaccine series or gotten a previous booster. Pfizers updated COVID-19 vaccine booster is available for people 12 years and older; Modernas is available for people 18 and older.
Should you get vaccinated if you already had COVID-19? Yes. Evidence shows that people can have added protection by getting vaccinated after having COVID-19. Evidence also shows that people who have already had COVID-19 and do not get vaccinated after their recovery are more likely to get COVID-19 again than those who get vaccinated after their recovery are. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about when you should get the vaccine.
Should you get vaccinated if you are trying to get pregnant? Yes. It is recommended for people who
are trying to get pregnant now or might become pregnant in the future. COVID-19 can make pregnant people very sick and lead to an increased risk of complications that can affect pregnancy. There is currently no evidence that the COVID-19 vaccine causes fertility problems. Recent studies show that antibodies produced after COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy are transferred to the newborn, thereby reducing the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization in infants younger than 6 months.
What are the short-term vaccine side effects? As with other vaccines, some people have experienced pain at the injection site, fever, chills, tiredness, headache, and joint and muscle pain. These typically last one to three days. The risks of serious long-term health problems from getting COVID-19 are much greater than the rare risks of serious side effects of the vaccine.
What are the long-term vaccine side effects? Vaccines have been safely given to billions of people worldwide for decades with no long-term side effects, saving countless lives.
Where can I get vaccinated? At local pharmacies and your doctors office. You can also visit CovidVaccine.texas.gov or call 1-833-832-7067 to find a vaccine near you.
How much does it cost, and do I need insurance? The vaccine is free for everyone, and no insurance or ID is required.
Can you get the COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines at the same time? Yes, you can get the COVID-19 vaccine with other vaccines, including the flu shot, without any gaps.
*CDC Data, June 2022
Dr. Farris Blount Jr. is a family medicine doctor in Houston, Texas, and is affiliated with Medical Associates of Houston. He has been in practice for more than 30 years.
In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, a team of researchers explored the effect of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB)-induced expansion of age-associated B cells (ABCs) on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine-derived humoral immunity in patients with cancer and inborn errors of immunity (IEI).
Immune checkpoint blockade is a cancer therapy that improves anti-cancer and anti-viral immunity by targeting cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) and programmed death 1 (PD-1) checkpoints and consequently enhancing antibody responses by promoting T and B cell interactions. Observational studies have indicated better vaccine efficacy in cancer patients using ICB.
However, the benefits of using ICB to improve vaccine performance in cancer patients are confounded to a certain extent by the expansion of ABCs. Age-associated B cells are antigen-experienced B cells that expand and accumulate in healthy individuals, as the name suggests, with age. The natural accumulation of ABCs is beneficial for improved antibody responses because of their improved ability to present antigens to T cells. In people with immune disorders, infectious diseases, or autoimmunity, and sometimes as a response to the COVID-19 vaccine or infection, ABCs have been seen to accumulate prematurely.
In cancer patients, ICB therapy seems to cause the expansion of ABCs before either the antibody-mediated or the non-antibody-mediated immunity develops. Studies have found that this leads to a T cell deficit due to B-cell extrinsic functions in cancer patients and individuals with IEI. Therefore, understanding the effect of ICB-induced expansion of ABCs on the vaccine-related immune response is essential in decreasing the vulnerability of cancer and immune disorder patients to COVID-19.
In the present study, the researchers addressed two major questions 1) are ABC levels in patients receiving ICB therapy similar to those in individuals not under ICB therapy? and 2) what effect does the expansion of ABCs during ICB therapy have on vaccination-related humoral responses?
To answer these questions, the team selected patients based on the deficient genes of interest, such as CTLA-4, lipopolysaccharide-responsive beige-like anchor protein (LRBA), and nuclear factor kappa B subunit 1 (NFB1) and subunit 2 (NFB2), and clinical diagnostics such as ICB therapy. A control group of healthy individuals was also included in the study. Blood samples from the participants, collected at different time points corresponding to the time of vaccination, were used for the study.
The researchers first used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) to understand whether different transcriptional profiles were involved in ABCs arising from different etiologies. They investigated whether ABCs from different diseases or conditions could be subdivided based on the expression of different immune function genes, such as the autoimmune regulator (AIRE).
The second part of the study was a comprehensive longitudinal profile examining the response to the COVID-19 vaccination in all the participants. The profile included a serological assay to quantify antibodies specific to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein trimer. A neutralization assay measured antibody titers at 50% inhibition against wild-type SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, B cells were analyzed using flow cytometry.
The study's results indicate that while several factors, such as ageing, obesity, and polygenic risk alleles, can contribute to ABC expansion in older patients, the disruption of specific genes is responsible for the expansion of ABCs in younger patients suffering from rare inherited monogenic diseases.
The study found the ABC differentiation states to be homogenous across different groups consisting of cancer patients receiving ICB therapy, patients with CTLA4 or NFB1 haploinsufficiency, systemic lupus erythematosus patients, as well as healthy individuals. These results suggest that it is the increased frequency of expanded ABCs which is responsible for its pathology and not inherent differences in the ABCs from patients with distinct diseases.
The most clinically relevant finding, however, was that patients with expanded ABCs exhibited a lower B cell response to the COVID-19 vaccine, which subsequently resulted in a decreased neutralization capacity and reduced formation of memory B cells. The memory B cell frequency indicates subsequent neutralization responses to booster vaccinations. Therefore, the results suggest that patients with cancers and immune dyscrasias will require frequent booster vaccines to maintain their B-cell-related immunity.
Overall, the study indicated that expansion of ABCs in IEI patients or cancer patients receiving ICB therapy results in a decrease in memory B cells, which reduces the duration and strength of vaccine-induced antibody responses. The authors believe that ABC expansion can be used as a biomarker for monitoring humoral immunity and administering booster doses of COVID-19 vaccinations in cancer patients.
medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information
On CNBCs "Mad Money Lightning Round," Jim Cramer said he wants to buy Moderna, Inc. MRNA. "I know it can go lower, but I think its a really well-run company," he added.
When asked about Crown Castle Inc. CCI, he said, "I say, keep your powder dry."
The "Mad Money" host said The Trade Desk, Inc. TTD is selling at a very high price-to-earnings multiple. He added, "It can go lower, and then I would buy it."
When asked about Texas Instruments Incorporated TXN, Cramer said, "I think that itll make the quarter and I think you can start buying."
Cramer said ON Semiconductor Corporation ON is "doing well, but all semiconductor stocks are vulnerable."
When asked about Carnival Corporation CCL, he said, "I think it can stave off that bankruptcy, but I dont think that makes it a good stock."
Cramer said Micron Technology, Inc. MU might go to "$48, $47 before I ever think about buying it."
About 30 people are working on monitoring data from theVaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed to The Epoch Times.
The disclosure came in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
The Epoch Times sought details on the U.S. governments COVID-19 vaccine safety monitoring, which officials have repeatedly described as the most intensive in U.S. history. The CDC previously declined to name any of the employees working on VAERS, and falsely said it was performing a type of analysis on the data from the system starting in early 2021. The agency and its director later acknowledged the method, calledProportional Reporting Ratio, was not performed until March 2022.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, which co-manages VAERS with the CDC, says that it has performed a different type of analysis calledempirical Bayesian data mining, but refused to share any of the results.
Approximately nine full-time CDC workers are on the VAERS team, which is led by Dr. John Su, the CDC told The Epoch Times in a letter. Another 20 contractors are on the team.
The staffing numbers vary depending on the agency needs and has been larger and smaller in the past, the team said in a statement conveyed through the CDCs records office.
The Epoch Times asked for all documents concerning the creation of the team and two associated efforts, which focus on post-vaccination heart inflammation, or myocarditis, and blood clotting with low blood platelets, orthrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS)two known serious side effects for COVID-19 vaccines.
That included all materials outlining the mission for each team, documents sent for recruiting purposes, and the number of employees on each team.
The CDC provided no materials about the mission for each team. It said the VAERS team is understood to mean the team tasked with administering and monitoring VAERS and pointed to theNational Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which led to the establishment of VAERS in 1990.
The teams focusing on heart inflammation and blood clotting are basically ad hoc groups that are formed to address needs but are not part of any formal organizational structure, the CDC said, adding that the sizes of the groups have varied between approximately 2 to over 20, depending on workload.
There is no documentation with regard to formal authorization and chronology of creating these teams, when they started their work, or their size, the CDC added.
The only actual document provided was a four-page recruitment missive sent in November 2020 to members of theU.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which includes more than 6,500 employees of the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and other agencies.
The VAERS team asked for workers with clinical backgrounds, including expertise in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary services.
Potential members were told that controlling the COVID-19 pandemic hinge[s] upon safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines and that the vaccines were expected to be available soon.
As more people receive COVID-19 vaccines, side effects or adverse events will occur. The VAERS Team will monitor adverse events reported after COVID-19 vaccines for unusual adverse events or patterns of reporting that might indicate the need for further safety analysis. For selected adverse events, medical record abstraction will be performed to learn more about the reported patient, Additionally, the VAERS Team will respond to public inquiries about COVID-19 vaccine safety- including from healthcare providers. The VAERS Team will coordinate with CDCs Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project on particularly complex and/or medically urgent inquiries, the missive said.
It told prospective applicants that the work offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, and to learn about COVID-19 vaccines.
Knowledge of and experience with vaccine safety was not required, nor was a background in infectious diseases.
Accepted applicants would work 100 percent remotelythe CDC has shifted drastically to offsite work during the pandemicand were not expected to have to work nights or weekends.
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Zachary Stieber covers U.S. and world news. He is based in Maryland.
When is the pandemic over? In the early days of 2020, we envisioned it ending with the novel coronavirus going away entirely. When this became impossible, we hoped instead for elimination: If enough people got vaccinated, herd immunity might largely stop the virus from spreading. When this too became impossible, we accepted that the virus would still circulate but imagined that it could become, optimistically, like one of the four coronaviruses that cause common colds or, pessimistically, like something more severe, akin to the flu.
Instead, COVID has settled into something far worse than the flu. When President Joe Biden declared this week, The pandemic is over. If you notice, no ones wearing masks, the country was still recording more than 400 COVID deaths a daymore than triple the average number from flu.
This shifting of goal posts is, in part, a reckoning with the biological reality of COVID. The virus that came out of Wuhan, China, in 2019 was already so good at spreadingincluding from people without symptomsthat eradication probably never stood a chance once COVID took off internationally. I dont think that was ever really practically possible, says Stephen Morse, an epidemiologist at Columbia. In time, it also became clear that immunity to COVID is simply not durable enough for elimination through herd immunity. The virus evolves too rapidly, and our own immunity to COVID infection fades too quicklyas it does with other respiratory viruseseven as immunity against severe disease tends to persist. (The elderly who mount weaker immune responses remain the most vulnerable: 88 percent of COVID deaths so far in September have been in people over 65.) With a public weary of pandemic measures and a government reluctant to push them, the situation seems unlikely to improve anytime soon. Trevor Bedford, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, estimates that COVID will continue to exact a death toll of 100,000 Americans a year in the near future. This too is approximately three times that of a typical flu year.
I keep returning to the flu because, back in early 2021, with vaccine excitement still fresh in the air, several experts told my colleague Alexis Madrigal that a reasonable threshold for lifting COVID restrictions was 100 deaths a day, roughly on par with flu. We largely tolerate, the thinking went, the risk of flu without major disruptions to our lives. Since then, widespread immunity, better treatments, and the less virulent Omicron variant have together pushed the risk of COVID to individuals down to a flu-like level. But across the whole population, COVID is still killing many times more people than influenza is, because it is still sickening so many more people.
Bedford told me he estimates that Omicron has infected 80 percent of Americans. Going forward, COVID might continue to infect 50 percent of the population every year, even without another Omicron-like leap in evolution. In contrast, flu sickens an estimated 10 to 20 percent of Americans a year. These are estimates, because lack of testing hampers accurate case counts for both diseases, but COVIDs higher death toll is a function of higher transmission. The tens of thousands of recorded caseslikely hundreds of thousands of actual cases every dayalso add to the burden of long COVID.
The challenge of driving down COVID transmission has also become clearer with time. In early 2021, the initially spectacular vaccine-efficacy data bolstered optimism that vaccination could significantly dampen transmission. Breakthrough cases were downplayed as very rare. And they wereat first. But immunity to infection is not durable against common respiratory viruses. Flu, the four common-cold coronaviruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and others all reinfect us over and over again. The same proved true with COVID. Right at the beginning, we should have made that very clear. When you saw 95 percent against mild disease, with the trials done in December 2020, we should have said right then this is not going to last, says Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Even vaccinating the whole world would not eliminate COVID transmission.
This coronavirus has also proved a wilier opponent than expected. Despite a relatively slow rate of mutation at the beginning of the pandemic, it soon evolved into variants that are more inherently contagious and better at evading immunity. With each major wave, the virus has only gotten more transmissible, says Ruth Karron, a vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins. The coronavirus cannot keep becoming more transmissible forever, but it can keep changing to evade our immunity essentially forever. Its rate of evolution is much higher than that of other common-cold coronaviruses. Its higher than that of even H3N2 fluthe most troublesome and fastest-evolving of the influenza viruses. Omicron, according to Bedford, is the equivalent of five years of H3N2 evolution, and its subvariants are still outpacing H3N2s usual rate. We dont know how often Omicron-like events will happen. COVIDs rate of change may eventually slow down when the virus is no longer novel in humans, or it may surprise us again.
In the past, flu pandemics ended after the virus swept through so much of the population that it could no longer cause huge waves. But the pandemic virus did not disappear; it became the new seasonal-flu virus. The 1968 H3N2 pandemic, for example, seeded the H3N2 flu that still sickens people today. I suspect its probably caused even more morbidity and mortality in all those years since 1968, Morse says. The pandemic ended, but the virus continued killing people.
Ironically, H3N2 did go away during the coronavirus pandemic. Measures such as social distancing and masking managed to almost entirely eliminate the flu. (It has not disappeared entirely, though, and may be back in full force this winter.) Cases of other respiratory viruses, such as RSV, also plummeted. Experts hoped that this would show Americans a new normal, where we dont simply tolerate the flu and other respiratory illnesses every winter. Instead, the country is moving toward a new normal where COVID is also something we tolerate every year.
In the same breath that President Biden said, The pandemic is over, he went on to say, We still have a problem with COVID. Were still doing a lot of work on it. You might see this as a contradiction, or you might see it as how we deal with every other diseasean attempt at normalizing COVID, if you will. The government doesnt treat flu, cancer, heart disease, tuberculosis, hepatitis C, etc., as national emergencies that disrupt everyday life, even as the work continues on preventing and treating them. The U.S.s COVID strategy certainly seems to be going in that direction. Broad restrictions such as mask mandates are out of the question. Interventions targeted at those most vulnerable to severe disease exist, but they arent getting much fanfare. This falls COVID-booster campaign has been muted. Treatments such as bebtelovimab and Evusheld remain on shelves underpublicized and underused.
At the same time, hundreds of Americans are still dying of COVID every day and will likely continue to die of COVID every day. A cumulative annual toll of 100,000 deaths a year would still make COVID a top-10 cause of death, ahead of any other infectious disease. When the first 100,000 Americans died of COVID, in spring 2020, newspapers memorialized the grim milestone. The New York Times devoted its entire front page to chronicling the lives lost to COVID. It might have been hard to imagine, back in 2020, that the U.S. would come to accept 100,000 people dying of COVID every year. Whether or not that means the pandemic is over, the second part of the presidents statement is harder to argue with: COVID is and will remain a problem.
As the change in seasons ushers in cooler weather, it also means the start of flu season. How long flu season lasts can vary but typically begins in November and lasts well into March or early April.
Here we cover common flu symptoms, possible side effects, vaccine recommendations and answers to common flu-related questions.
When we talk about the flu (and the vaccine), we refer to the illness caused by the influenza virus. Influenza is a respiratory virus not to be confused with gastrointestinal bugs that are often called the "stomach flu." The most common flu symptoms include:
A person is definitely considered contagious when symptoms are present, but they can potentially spread the flu even before they notice symptoms.
Each year, flu vaccines are created based on predictions of what flu strains may be present in the coming flu season. While these vaccines are very effective, they're not always a 100% match.
"Predicting what the flu season will bring is always a gamble," says Stephen Mohring, MD, Nebraska Medicine primary care physician. "As the COVID-19 pandemic transitions especially as wearing masks and practicing social distancing are less utilized we are concerned that we could see a more significant flu season this year. We recommend vaccination to protect yourself and your loved ones."
Once you are vaccinated, you gain the full amount of protection after two weeks. Receiving the vaccine reduces your chance of getting the flu, the severity of symptoms, and the risk of spreading the virus to others.
Flu shots are most effective in people under the age of 65. For those over 65, the vaccine significantly reduces the risk of serious illness, helps keep more people out of the hospital and reduces influenza deaths.
There is an egg-free vaccine available for those with an egg allergy. If your allergy is mild, you can safely receive the regular vaccine. If you have a severe allergy, talk to your doctor about receiving the egg-free version.
The vaccine contains elements of the dead influenza virus so the immune system can respond to those specific proteins to make antibodies. When the immune system sees the virus in the future, it ramps up the antibody response to kill it quicker.
The flu shot is available now at local pharmacies and Nebraska Medicine clinic locations through early spring. Our recommendation is to get it sooner than later.
"The best time to get the flu shot is when the flu shot is available," says Dr. Mohring. There is a two-week time span between vaccination and full protection. Therefore, we recommend getting it in the fall before we start seeing numerous patients getting sick."
Rest assured, it is safe to get the COVID-19 vaccine or booster at the same time as your flu vaccination.
You cannot get the flu from the flu shot, but you may experience mild side effects. It's common to feel tenderness at the injection site or mild symptoms for a day or two afterward.
When you experience mild symptoms, remember that your immune system is doing what it is designed to do: reacting to a foreign antigen and triggering the production of antibodies that will fight the flu in the future.
Common side effects include:
Doctor's advice? Think about the timing of your flu shot. Plan it around your life events just in case you feel a few side effects afterward.
Patients with a suppressed immune system should consult their doctor to discuss their best options. Those with a history of Guillain-Barre syndrome, certain autoimmune disorders and those who are sick should avoid getting the flu vaccine.
The symptoms can be challenging to tell apart. If your symptoms last for more than a day or two, perform an at-home COVID-19 test or arrange to get tested. If your symptoms include a fever and body aches, reach out to your doctor.
If you get sick with the flu (even if you've been vaccinated), call your doctor within 24 to 48 hours. Tamiflu is still available as a treatment option and must start within the first few days of symptoms. Wait 24 hours after you are fever free before returning to school or work. Keep yourself and others healthy by practicing healthy habits to prevent flu and colds all season.
Low clouds and rain showers move across the Thief Lake Wildlife Management Area as a two person crew in a small boat splashes ashore carrying dozens of ducks in plastic crates.
The ducks were captured in traps baited with barley out on the water.
The crew carried the grumbling ducks to a processing site set up on two pickup trucks parked with tailgates open. Pliers, syringes and swabs are laid out, ready for action.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources waterfowl technicians Sophie Arhart and Ryan Dunnell come to shore with dozens of captured ducks in crates. Each of the ducks will get a numbered leg identification band, some will be swabbed and have blood drawn to test for avian influenza.
Dan Gunderson | MPR News
Minnesota DNR biologist Ciara McCarty reaches into a crate and grabs a Blue-winged Teal.
McCarty records the leg band number and the age and sex of the duck.
This is part of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources annual waterfowl banding initiative. Each year some 3,000 ducks are captured and outfitted with a numbered aluminum leg band. When hunters turn in the bands, it helps biologists track migration patterns and bird mortality.
But a subset of these ducks will also be tested for avian influenza.
Swabs test for active virus on the bird and then blood samples will test for antibodies within the blood, explained McCarty.
This is a multi-agency effort. The team catching the ducks and leading the banding work is DNR.
U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife disease biologist Timothy White is here collecting fecal and throat swabs to test for highly pathogenic avian influenza.
The swabs will be sent to a lab in Missouri. Any positive results will be confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources waterfowl biologist Ciara McCarty holds two ducks as she processes captured ducks at the Thief Lake wildlife management area.
Dan Gunderson | MPR News
This is part of a national surveillance effort.
"By taking this national approach, we can get information not just from here, but as they move down the flyway in the different states," said White.
It helps give us an understanding of whats going on in the wild bird, he said. And we can pass that information along to poultry producers and maybe it will help them make different management decisions as far as protecting their flocks.
Minnesota sees a lot of ducks. According to the DNR, 60 percent of migratory birds in North American pass through the state as they follow the Mississippi flyway in spring and fall.
Researchers are eager to learn more about the highly pathogenic avian flu virus because the current variant is not acting like those in previous outbreaks.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources waterfowl technician Sophie Arhart releases a captured duck at Thief Lake wildlife management area.
Dan Gunderson | MPR News
This virus has continued to circulate through the summer, killing many more wild birds compared to previous outbreaks.
Theres a lot of virus out on the landscape, which makes this surveillance important, said Julianna Lenoch, USDA National Wildlife Disease Program coordinator.
"The biggest things for us to understand (are), is the virus still circulating, which bird species are carrying it and which flyways they may be returning to as we look to the fall migration and the birds returning across North America," she said.
Lenoch said poultry producers did a great job earlier this year of reducing the impact of the virus by implementing strong biosecurity plans, and those plans should be active now.
I wouldn't wait for it to be detected close to you, our evidence right now is that this virus is pretty widespread and pretty present, so all of our poultry enthusiasts are encouraged to maintain that level of biosecurity, she said.
A duck has a swab sample taken from its throat to be tested for avian influenza virus at Thief Lake Wildlife Management Area near Middle River, Minn.
Dan Gunderson | MPR News
The Minnesota Board of Animal Health has reported nearly a dozen case of avian influenza in commercial and backyard poultry flocks this month.
Lenoch says there are at least two variants of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus circulating in North America. One entered the country on the east coast, the other on the west coast.
Viruses are constantly mutating and co-mingling and experts want to know what might have changed over the summer.
"So what's important for us to understand now is are we seeing any mixing of those viruses, said Lenoch. Could we potentially see any emergence of a new virus in North America as those strains and those bird migratory pathways converge? That helps us potentially understand what we might be looking at for fall risk."
Throat and rectal swab samples are collected from a duck to test for the presence of avian influenza. Waterfowl can often carry a variety of avian influenza viruses without becoming sick.
Dan Gunderson | MPR News
The landscape is riddled with risk, if you're an avian out there, said Bryan Richards, the Emerging Disease Coordinator at theU.S. Geological SurveyNational Wildlife Health Center. The virus is out there, it remains a threat, it didn't go away. And I think the evidence suggests we'll see more of this going on through the fall.
The virus has continued to kill wild birds over the summer, hitting colonial nesting birds such as terns and pelicans hard, said Richards. The virus has also been found in a range of mammals from juvenile red fox in Minnesota to a black bear in Canada, and earlier this month the first ever case in a dolphin in Florida.
And now we're at the beginning of fall bird migration, so birds are on the move. And so those birds coming back down from northern latitudes, well have to see what they bring with them, said Richards.
While USDA is conducting surveillance in 49 states for the virus responsible for outbreak that's killed more than 40 million turkeys and chickens nationwide, and nearly 3.5 million domestic poultry in Minnesota this year, other researchers are taking a deeper look.
At the Thief Lake Wildlife Management Area, Alinde Fojtik prepares to draw a blood sample from the jugular vein of a duck immobilized on the tailgate of a pickup.
Blood is drawn from a few ducks to test for viral antibodies. This data is part of a long-term project by the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia to monitor avian influenza.
Dan Gunderson | MPR News
"It tells us whether or not they have the antibodies to the virus, she explained. They carry it or just have the antibodies from past infections.
Fojtik is a Research Professional with the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia.
She travels the Mississippi flyway collecting waterfowl samples. The project was been collecting samples since 1998, and annually in Minnesota since 2005, amassing a huge collection of data on the multitude of flu viruses that co-evolved with waterfowl over millennia.
"We track low pathogenic avian influenza viruses so we can see what naturally occurs in the populations, explained Fojtik. Trying to establish the normal trend of flu and then we see if something changes, if something is different."
So the swabs and blood samples collected here in northern Minnesota will not only help track the risk from the current deadly avian influenza virus, but also help provide context, allowing scientists see the big picture of how these ever-present viruses in waterfowl are changing.
Maharashtra has been witnessing a spike in Swine flu cases of late. According to the data from the state health department, nearly 3,000 cases of H1N1 flu and 147 deaths have been reported till the end of August the highest surge in Swine flu cases in the last three years, in the state.
First detected in the US in April 2009, the virus was a hybrid of swine, avian and human strains. Medically, this disease is referred to as Influenza A or H1N1 flu. It spread through the world within six months and has been infecting people since then.
Dr Maharshi Desai, Head, General Medicine Department, Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad says, it is not easy to differentiate between a normal seasonal flu and H1N1 and they can look similar to the common cold. However, One way to differentiate between the two would be the temperature of the fever(>38 * C). Severe exhaustion, weakness, bodyache and headache are more common is Swine flu while sneezing, sore throat and stuffy nose is more common in common cold.
Precautions
People who suspect that they are infected with Swine flu should quarantine themselves indoors and avoid coming in contact with people as the virus spreads the same way that seasonal flu (cold) spreads via air. Flu viruses are spread mainly by aerosols that infected people produce when they cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby and are then inhaled into the lungs, creating a transmission chain of the virus.
Dr Sunil Jain, head of department, Medical Emergency Services, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai advises people to quarantine as it can stop the spread of the virus. He says, We suggest quarantining for five to seven days. After that, the virus is mostly dead.
Vaccine
There is no specific treatment for Swine flu and it is not required either unless in case of extremely severe conditions. In most cases, your doctor can tell if you have the flu by your history and symptoms. Dr Anita Mathew, Infectious Disease Specialist, Fortis Hospital, Mumbai says, This virus can sometimes prove to be fatal for specific populations like the elderly, asthmatics or those who are immunocompromised.
A H1N1 vaccine already exists and is the most effective way to reduce the chance of getting infected. Dr Maharshi Desai, head, General Medicine Department, Apollo Hospitals, Ahmedabad says, People who get this vaccine have a lower chance of illness and death compared to people who are not vaccinated. Because the influenza virus mutates slightly from year to year, you need a new vaccine dose every year, before each flu season. Children, elderly, patients with lung problems, chronic diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease, people infected with HIV infection and pregnant women will benefit the most from getting the booster dose.
Jain adds, There are a few cases where people have reported of side effects, but like the Covid-19 vaccines, taking this vaccine is needed, as it will limit the spread and the severity of the infection, if you get affected.
Swine flu symptoms to keep an eye out for:
Fever
Cough
Sore throat
Chills
Weakness
Body aches
Headache
Diarrhoea
Nausea and vomiting
Shortness of breath
Fatigue
Recommended foods to eat:
Vitamin C rich foods: lemon, oranges, kiwis, spinach, broccoli
Vitamin D rich foods: fatty fish, egg yolks, cheese, red meat
Leafy green vegetables
Foods high in protein
Sep 21, 2022 8:00 AM
Author: University of Utah Health Communications
Informacin en espaol
Each year, the flu vaccine is updated because the influenza virus is constantly evolving. Influenza is monitored across the world to help create a better vaccine and, ultimately, better protect people. This is the same idea behind the new, FDA-approved COVID-19 boosters.
These updated boosters are intended to provide optimal protection against current strains of the virus. The new boosters contain an updated bivalent formula that both boosts immunity against the original coronavirus strain and protects against the newer Omicron variants causing most COVID-19 cases today.
The CDC recommends that everyone receive an updated booster as soon as they are eligible. One reason is because a surge in COVID-19 cases typically happens during the fall and winter. During these seasons, colder weather drives people indoors, increasing transmission of the virus from person to person. An updated booster will better protect you from the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron lineages that are predicted to continue circulating in the coming months.
The updated COVID-19 boosters by Pfizer-BioNTech (available for people ages 12 and older) and Moderna (available for people ages 18 and older) are free and readily available in retail pharmacies and local health departments throughout the U.S. You can find a vaccine provider near you by visitingvaccines.gov or calling 1-800-232-0233.
You should get the booster at least two months after your last COVID-19 shotwhether it has been two months since your last booster dose or since completing the primary vaccination series. You can use this online tool to find out when to get your booster.
For people ages 12 and older, the updated booster replaces the original (monovalent) booster. Children ages 5 to 11 can still receive the original booster.
The CDC recommends getting the updated booster for added protection, even if youve had COVID-19. This is because natural immunity varies from person to person and wanes over time. It is recommended that you receive a booster dose three months after testing positive for the virus.
The CDC has updatedCOVID-19 vaccine and booster shot recommendations for people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised (see CDC list for qualifying medical conditions). You can use this online tool to find out when to get your booster. However, it is recommended that you talk to your specialty provider first to determine if an additional dose or booster shot is needed at this time.
Multiple studies have shown that COVID-19 vaccination works well to prevent the worst outcomes from the disease: severe illness, hospitalization, and death. These studies also show that protection from the vaccine wanes over time. Thats why some people who have been vaccinated still get mild to moderate COVID-19.
However, studies also show that boosters increase our immune response and provide additional protection against the disease. There is also evidence that updated boosters customized to protect against newer virus variants provide even better protection against COVID-19 than the original boosters. Public health officials wont fully know how well the new updated boosters work until they can measure how well people are protected against currently circulating virus variants.
Similar to getting an annual flu shot, its expected that we may periodically need new COVID-19 boosters that are tailored to protect against the virus causing most COVID-19 cases at that time.
Staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccines and boosters is the safest and best way to restore protection that has decreased since previous vaccinations, providing better protection against newer variants.
