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Health officials say the number of Americans receiving flu shots and COVID-19 treatments are down (Credit: FOX News/News Edge)
If youre feeling under the weather lately youre not alone.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), seasonal influenza activity remains elevated nationally, and more than 20,000 people were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 last week.
Despite data released Friday showing a continued drop in flu hospitalizations, other indicators were up including the number of states with high or very high levels of respiratory illnesses.
The agency said cases have ticked up 16.2% compared to last week, and in some regions of the United States, the flu virus is intensifying after weeks of an apparent national decline.
A sick woman lies in bed wearing a surgical mask. (Credit: Ute Grabowsky/Photothek via Getty Images)
"Nationally, we can say we've peaked, but on a regional level it varies," the CDCs Alicia Budd told the Associated Press. "A couple of regions havent peaked yet."
Academic officials also recently cited concern over the high number of school absences due to various illnesses.
But what is contributing to a higher number of hospitalizations and respiratory illnesses?
Tracking during flu season relies in part on reports of people with flu-like symptoms who go to doctors offices or hospitals. But, many people with the flu are not tested, so their infections arent lab-confirmed.
COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses can sometimes muddy the picture, as well.
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RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms.
Alicia Budd, who leads the CDCs flu surveillance team, said several indicators are showing "continued increases" in flu.
There are different kinds of flu viruses, and the version thats been spreading the most so far this year usually leads to a lesser amount of hospitalizations and deaths in the elderly the group on whom flu tends to take the largest toll.
Health experts also said that a growing number of people have been abandoning pandemic-era safety measures skipping out on flu and COVID-19 vaccines this season and this could be contributing to the higher number of illnesses they are seeing.
"Pandemic precautions those things are dwindling. And hence we're being exposed to more respiratory viruses than we have last year," Libby Richards, an associate professor at Purdue University School of Nursing told FOX News.
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If you've been waiting to get an updated COVID-19 shot, your wait could soon be over. The FDA cleared the way Monday for two new shots, from Pfizer and Moderna, for children as young as six months. A CDC panel is meeting Tuesday to weigh in on the vaccines. (Credit: FOX 5 Atlanta)
The CDC has reported decreases in the number of Americans rolling up their sleeves for the coronavirus shot. Richards noted that roughly 10 million fewer children and adults received the flu shot this year.
RELATED: Flu cases surge across US, CDC reports
Despite this, flu vaccination rates still fare better than rates for the other two main respiratory viruses COVID-19 and RSV. About 14% of adults and 5% of children have gotten the currently recommended COVID-19 shot, and about 13.5% of adults 60 and older have gotten one of the RSV shots that became available earlier this year.
And with so many different respiratory viruses going around, Richards added that its likely that some people are becoming infected with different viruses back to back.
"Compared to this time point last year, we are seeing a higher rate of hospitalizations from the flu and RSV," she continued.
She said the best way to protect yourself from things like the flu and COVID-19 is to get vaccinated. Doctors and other health experts urge everyone 6 months and older to get an annual flu vaccine.
Health experts said that there is still time to get a flu shot if you havent gotten one yet, citing how a second surge is always possible and cases can last until May.
FOX News, the Associated Press contributed to this story.
INDIANAPOLIS The Indiana Department of Health reported 10 new deaths caused by the flu this week, bringing the total number up to 89 for the season.
A child between the age of 5 to 11 is included in this weeks deaths. Health officials say flu activity in Indiana is currently high.
Flu season typically runs from October through May.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone age six months and older to get a flu vaccine.
The flu is spread by respiratory droplets released when infected people cough or sneeze nearby or when people touch surfaces or objects contaminated with those infectious respiratory droplets.
People can also become infected by touching surfaces or objects contaminated with influenza viruses and then touching their eyes, mouth or nose.
Symptoms include:
While there is no cure for the flu, some medications can help ease symptoms, according to health officials. How can you tell if you have the flu, allergies or the traditional cold? If you are feeling the effects of allergies, you typically won't have a fever or much fatigue or body aches.
If you have a cold, you might have a mild fever and some body aches. You might feel weak and even have some ear congestion.
Colds generally last about a week.
The COVID-19 virus got mutated 223 times in the world and its harmful effects have come down substantially over time, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in Lok Sabha on Friday.
Photograph: ANI Photo
He also said that COVID-19 will continue to remain like influenza and its present variants are not deadly.
"When a virus gets mutated more than 100 times, its harmful effects get reduced. Covid also got mutated. So far, the Covid virus got mutated 223 times," he said during the Question Hour.
He said that like influenza, which hits people once or twice every year, "Covid is with us and it will remain."
"Covid sub-variants are not that deadly and there are no negative effects," he said.
Mandaviya said health is such an issue where all stake holders and countries should come together and work.
"We have seen the positive results during the pandemic when we all worked together," he said.
The minister said India has a robust medicine production infrastructure and the world has recognised this.
"We are now the producer of 70 per cent of HIV/AIDS medicines of the world. Similarly, we produce many medicines which the world considers as good," he said.
Speaker Om Birla also commented that when he was travelling in Africa, he had witnessed the demands of Indian medicines and people's admiration for it due to its effects.
Mandaviya said that due to the Ayushman Bharat scheme, under which free medical treatment up to Rs 5 lakh is provided to the poor, 13 crore people got benefited as they have gone above the poverty level since they did not have to spend money for treatment.
Similar, during the tenure of the previous government, 5.5 crore people came under the poverty line as they had to spend a large amount of money for medical care, he said.
The minister said the Modi government is now spending 1.35 per cent of the GDP in comparison to 1.13 per cent spent by the earlier government.
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From work to school to socializing, COVID-19 has impacted just about every part of our livesand now Boston University research has shown that also includes what happens in the bedroom. A study of more than 2,000 cisgender women found the coronavirus disease can impair sexual function, with long COVID having an especially detrimental effect.
"If you're sick with COVID, you're probably less interested in sex and maybe your body is less prepared to have sex," says Amelia M. Stanton, a BU College of Arts & Sciences assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences. "But what might be surprising to some folks is that long COVID symptoms really may have a physiological and psychological impact on sexual well-being for women."
Although previous research has investigated the effect of the pandemic on peoples' sex livesparticularly in menStanton says this is the first study to highlight long COVID's fallout on sexual health in women. An expert on sexual and mental health, she helped lead the study with researchers from Middlebury College, McLean Hospital, and the University of Vermont. The findings were recently published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
To figure out COVID's impact on intimacy, Stanton and her colleagues conducted an online survey. Roughly half of the women taking part had reported never having had COVID, the rest said they'd tested positive. Participants were quizzed using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), an established tool that measures factors like arousal and satisfaction with questions such as, "Over the past 4 weeks, how often did you feel sexual desire?" Only women who'd had sex in the previous month were included in the results.
Among those who'd had COVID, levels of desire, arousal, lubrication, and satisfaction were all lower than in those who hadn't; orgasm and pain scores weren't significantly different between the two groups. But while women in the COVID group were still classed within the index's functional range, participants with long COVID had "an average FSFI full scale score in the dysfunctional range," according to the researchers. They found women with long COVIDa broad condition with cognitive and physical symptoms that linger for weeks, sometimes months, after an initial infectionhad markedly worse arousal, lubrication, orgasm, and pain scores.
"I hope it's validating. If women type in 'sex long COVID,' something will come up now," says Stanton, who is also a clinical health psychologist at The Fenway Institute, a Boston clinic focused on the health of sexual and gender minorities. "Sex, sexuality, and sexual function are still relatively taboo subjects. But this offers something patients can bring to their providers and say, 'This is going on for me,' and maybe create an open dialogue around sex."
In their paper, Stanton and her colleagues say the results suggest "that COVID-19 infection may be associated with impairment of both cognitive and physiological aspects of sexual function." Just as the body and mind might take some time to get back to firing on all cylinders when it comes to work, study, and exercise, the same may apply to sex. They also speculate that wider societal changes caused by the pandemic may be a factor, with fewer social events and kids hanging around at home more reducing opportunities for shared or solo sexual activities.
While a COVID infection might impact women's sexual health, previous BU research has found vaccination does not cause infertility, reduce pregnancy chances, or have a significant impact on menstruation.
"COVID-19 vaccination in either partner is unrelated to fertility among couples trying to conceive through intercourse," Amelia Wesselink, an SPH research assistant professor of epidemiology, told The Brink in 2022 when discussing her study on vaccines and fertility. That same research did, however, find that men who'd tested positive for COVID within the past 60 days had reduced fertility.
Stanton is the principal investigator of BU's Sexual, Reproductive, and Mental Health Disparities Programan effort to explore sexual and mental health in minoritized and marginalized populationsand says possible future routes for the latest project would be to expand the study's sexual and gender minority diversity, talk to women for their qualitative experiences, and design tools to help providers better support their patients.
"I'm an interventionist, so I always think about intervention design as a next step," says Stanton. In other research, she's working to develop new approaches clinicians can use to talk about sex with their patients, as well as studying how to improve sexual well-being and mental health in low-resource communities.
"I always encourage providers to initiate conversations about sex," says Stanton. "If they have someone who's coming in for long COVID, maybe ask, 'How are you doing sexually?' Asking that one question could open the door for people to say, 'You know, I've been ashamed to say that this is going on, and I really need help.' Any way we can iterate to folks that there is hope and there are strategiesyour symptoms are meaningful and relevant, and they're important to talk about."
More information: Martin Seehuus et al, The impact of COVID-19 and long COVID on sexual function in cisgender women, The Journal of Sexual Medicine (2023). DOI: 10.1093/jsxmed/qdad155
Journal information: Journal of Sexual Medicine
Were now approaching the fourth anniversary of the first confirmed US death from COVID-19 (Feb. 29) four long years of disease, disruption, and division, truly a plague for the internet age. To mark this milestone, the Library of Congress has launched a COVID-19 oral history project, partnering with StoryCorps and the American Folklife Center, to document history as it happens. The initiative is part of a congressional mandate to preserve the experiences ordinary Americans had during the pandemic, and the Library is inviting everyone to share.
So I dug out a journal I kept in those surreal months of 2020 to see if I had any small bit to add.
Small is the operative word here. History is told on a grand scale, but stories are human-scaled, the stuff of every day, too often ignored in the great sweep of things. In that first frightful April, I listened to a podcast with the author and teacher George Saunders, who read aloud an email he had sent his marooned students at Syracuse University. Pay sharp attention in this moment, he advised them. Keep your sensory apparatus as open as possible, and record the tenor of your days. Youre bearing witness; no observation is too small. In years to come it may be some totally trivial detail that encapsulates this whole thing, he wrote.
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I cant pretend to have some revelatory truth buried in my anxious scribblings from those months, but I do have fragments of observations it would be a shame to forget. You have them, too.
Why wouldnt we want to preserve these tales of ingenuity and resilience, to appreciate what we learned? We are all citizen historians, and our small, shared stories build empathy by bringing us, however briefly, into other lives. I hope people will write for the national archives. But I also hope that they will read.
Rene Loths column appears regularly in the Globe.
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On one of the biggest drinking days of the year, its easy to get carried away cheering on your team. But police want Vermonters to have fun responsibly. South Burlington Deputy Chief of Police Sean Briscoe says that means pacing yourself and thinking ahead.
5.8 million children in the U.S. Other estimates are much lower. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post) Denver Post via Getty Images
Long Covid may affect 5.8 million children in the U.S., according to an article published on Wednesday in the journal Pediatrics. Thats a large number. Its also a number that stands in contrast to other published estimates of pediatric long Covid. So, whos right?
Lets begin by exploring how the authors of this article arrived at their number. As with any estimate, they started with a few basic assumptions. They assumed that 20% of Covid-19 cases occur in children and that the prevalence of long Covid, or postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2, in children is 10-20%.
According to data provided by KFF, the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases in the U.S. at the end of January 2024 was approximately 105 million. If 20% of those cases occurred in children and 20% of those children developed long Covid, then about 4.2 million children in the U.S. should be affected. Thats reasonably close to the number cited by the authors.
However, its unclear how the authors determined that 10-20% of children with Covid-19 will develop long Covid. They state that experts, reviewed the literature for relevant pediatric studies and summarized the findings. Thats all we really know. They list 98 articles that were reviewed. Presumably, their careful review of these articles led the authors to determine that the prevalence is 10-20%. But we dont have any information about why these articles were selected and, conversely, why other articles may not have been selected.
So, what have other researchers concluded? The numbers vary wildly. Dr. Suchitra Rao, the corresponding author of the current report, noted that these disparate estimates can arise from different populations being evaluated, different definitions of PASC/long Covid, and variability in study design.
Indeed, several studies have estimated that the prevalence of long Covid in children is relatively low. For example, data published by the CDC suggests that the prevalence of long Covid in children is 1.3%. This figure was obtained from a survey of roughly 7,500 people and differs substantially from the 10-20% rate used by the authors of the present article. If the prevalence is 1.3%, then the number of children affected by long Covid may be closer to half a million, a much smaller number. Interestingly, even some authors of the current paper previously concluded in an article published in JAMA Pediatrics that, PASC in children appears to be low.
When asked about the CDC data, Dr. Rao commented that the CDC study, used a more specific definition, of long Covid, which probably led to their lower prevalence estimate. Thats a valid point. Without a standard definition, its hard to compare the results.
It's worth noting that the article in Pediatrics is a review and not a study. According to the journal website, review articles provide an overview of a topic. The article also is not a systematic review or a meta-analysis. For these types of publications, authors must clearly state criteria for including and excluding literature being evaluated. The reader, then, can more critically evaluate the information.
Long Covid remains one of the more vexing aspects of Covid-19. Numerous symptoms affecting various organ systems have been reported. Researchers still cant predict who is at risk of developing these debilitating sequelae. And clinicians still cannot provide relief. The presence of long Covid in children is a significant public health problem that must be addressed. The extent of the problem, however, remains unknown.
A Professor of Biology at Davidson College, David Wessner teaches courses about introductory biology, microbiology, and HIV/AIDS. His research interests include viral pathogenesis. He recently co-authored Microbiology, a textbook for undergraduate biology majors, and The Cartoon Guide to Biology. He also co-curated Re/Presenting HIV/AIDS, an exhibition that featured artistic works related to HIV. Prior to joining the faculty at Davidson, David conducted research at the Navy Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Harvard University and his B.A. in Biology from Franklin and Marshall College.
New Delhi: The 17th Lok Sabha, which reshaped Indias legislative framework through landmark laws, celebrated 75 years of Independence, shifted to a new building and withstood the Covid-19 pandemic, completed its last session on Saturday.
During its five-year course, the 17th Lok Sabha abrogated Article 370, passed the long-pending womens reservation bill, banned triple talaq and replaced British-era criminal laws with a new set of codes and brought Indias first data privacy laws. It also witnessed Indias growth as the fifth largest economy and the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
The productivity of the 17th Lok Sabha stood at 97% highest in the last five Lok Sabhas and the Rajya Sabha worked for 137% of its time in the budget session. Rajya Sabha authorities didnt provide data for the past five years. Altercations between the government and the Congress-led Opposition, which has formed a fragile INDIA alliance, also peaked, leading to an unprecedented suspension of 146 Opposition MPs from the two Houses in six days during the last winter session.
In his valedictory speech, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced, Out of 543 members of the 17th Lok Sabha, 540 members participated in discussions held in the House. Women MPs saw maximum representation in the 17th Lok Sabha.
A total of 274 sittings were held during the 17th Lok Sabha which lasted for a total of 1,354 hours. The House sat late for more than 345 hours and completed its business. The House lost a total of 387 hours to disruptions. The overall productivity of the 17th Lok Sabha has been around 97%, which is the highest in the last 5 Lok Sabhas, he added.
On September 19, the Indian Parliament shifted, for the first time, out of its British-era building to the new Parliament building, which is seen as a symbol of self-reliance.
In the Rajya Sabha, chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar referred to the Presidents speech on January 31 and said, As highlighted by the Honble President in her address, Bharat is making phenomenal progress in all walks of life. We are in Amrit Kaal of our Republic. As Members of the Upper House, we have to ensure exemplary standards of conduct. We need to be a source of inspiration as Bharat steadfastly surges towards a Viksit Rashtra and a global leader. We are in an era of immense possibilities. Let us vigorously contribute for continual, incremental rise of Bharat. I have no doubt that this sentiment is shared by every Member of this House and the people at large.
Read more: In PM Modi's last address to 17th Lok Sabha, Article 370, Sengol, Ram Mandir mentioned
Dhankhar, whose House often faced Opposition-led disruptions, reminded the lawmakers that as members of the Upper House, we have to ensure exemplary standards of conduct. We need to be a source of inspiration as Bharat steadfastly surges towards a Viksit Rashtra and a global leader. Let us vigorously contribute for continual, incremental rise of Bharat.
The 17th Lok Sabha had to skip one sessionthe monsoon session of 2020due to Covid but held a special session in September this year during which the long-pending women reservation bill (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) got cleared by both Houses with an overwhelming majority.
Birla said the 17th Lok Sabha, which held its first meeting on June 17, 2019, has been historic in various ways.
Read more: Amit Shah says CAA will be implemented before 2024 Lok Sabha elections
Of 543 members of the House, 540 members participated in discussions. Women MPs saw maximum representation in the 17th Lok Sabha and the House also witnessed their active participation in the proceedings.
Birla added that 222 laws were passed in the 17th Lok Sabha while 202 bills were introduced and 11 bills were withdrawn by the government. The three agriculture reform bills, that resulted in massive protests by farmers, were among the bills withdrawn.
Saubhadra Chatterji is Deputy Political Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on both politics and policies.
Such a change which would bring Victoria in line with other states has been backed by experts, but the state government insists the existing vaccine settings are in the best interest of healthcare workers and patients.
Melbourne midwife Naomi, left, and her husband Josh. Justin McManus
Melbourne midwife Naomi, who asked for her surname not to be published for privacy reasons, told The Sunday Age that she had been unable to return to her work in the public hospital system for more than two years as a result of the rules.
The mother of four believes she had a reaction to her first two COVID vaccines the second of which she had shortly after her son was born that caused her milk supply to drop and an early return of her menstrual cycle.
There was the impact on me, and then there was the impact on my son, she said.
Naomis claims, however, did not reach the threshold to qualify for a medical exemption and she is not willing to risk a third shot while she is still breastfeeding.
Naomi who has tested positive for COVID twice since the pandemic began and her husband Josh said they supported Victorias coronavirus rules at the height of the pandemic and were pro-vaccine.
However, they question the evidence behind the continuing three-dose mandates.
I am triple [vaccinated], our eldest child is double and we remain supportive of the measures taken, Josh said.
For us, this is now an argument of policy, or specifically, policy review.
In another universe, Naomi could have had a booster in March 2022, and still be working today, even though any effect of this booster would have long worn off.
Naomi said that being able to work in a hospital environment again would mean higher pay and child-friendly shifts.
Cost of living has really impacted us. I cant even put into words the stress its put us under, she said.
In Victoria, all hospital, aged care and ambulance workers have had to be fully vaccinated including a booster .
NSW mandates a primary vaccination course for healthcare workers usually two doses but a booster is only strongly recommended based on expert advice. Queensland Health .
Leading vaccine uptake expert Professor Julie Leask, from the University of Sydney, told The Sunday Age that the case for ongoing COVID vaccine mandates was weak.
Leask said vaccines remained good at reducing the likelihood of developing a severe illness from the virus, but they were now not so good at stopping people getting COVID altogether or passing it onto others an attribute that would usually be required to support compulsory vaccination.
Rarely can you mandate something for an individuals benefit. It may be justifiable to mandate something for the benefit of protecting others, Leask said.
Given that we are now in a situation where most people have immunity from both initial vaccines and from COVID itself, and vaccinated people can still transmit COVID, it is very difficult to justify ongoing vaccination requirements for COVID-19.
While vaccinations had proved effective at stopping people from catching earlier versions of COVID entirely, new variants had chipped away at vaccines ability to stop the virus from spreading.
Leask said it was important to review vaccination policies regularly, and that if a maternity unit wanted to help protect pregnant women visiting the service from COVID, the best form of protection was for pregnant women to have their own vaccinations, if recommended.
Unvaccinated pregnant women are at higher risk of falling severely ill with COVID, and the vaccines are safe during pregnancy and while breastfeeding, according to Australian government advice.
The chance of a single midwife getting a booster and reducing the risk of patients getting COVID is just a drop in the ocean, Leask said. To me, its very hard to justify a requirement for the third dose given where we are at now with COVID.
Professor Catherine Bennett, a panellist for Australias COVID-19 inquiry, supports vaccine mandates in sensitive healthcare settings but says the program should be similar to the flu vaccine, which is given ahead of the expected wave of cases.
She said this could mean that COVID booster shots would not be required for workers who have had COVID in the past six months, making them still eligible to work as they would have some immunity from prior infection.
In Victoria, .
Australia has been grappling with a shortage of midwives. The Andrews government has been trying to attract new midwives and nurses, promising for graduates and to study in the field.
Thousands of nurses will be trained at university for free in a major $270 Victorian Government scheme to boost staffing ranks.
Its frustrating that she cant go back even now, and help a system that would love to have her back, Josh said.
Naomi said she was considering moving interstate given her accreditation will soon expire unless she returns to midwifery.
Bennett isnt convinced, however, that vaccine mandates are still appropriate for firefighters, believing vaccines in this group now offered more of an individual benefit than community benefit.
But she said other things could still be done to help COVID spreading among fire crews, such as rapid antigen testing.
Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said she has been asking how many healthcare workers recruited from overseas had had their booster shot since late last year, and was still awaiting a response.
Crozier has also told parliament it is completely ludicrous that unvaccinated firefighters can visit loved ones in hospital and fly internationally but not return to work at Fire Rescue Victoria.
A government spokeswoman said vaccination requirements for healthcare workers were routinely reviewed by the health department to reflect contemporary epidemiology.
Any change to this policy would only be considered following extensive consultation with health experts, health services, healthcare workers and unions, the spokeswoman said.
Another government spokeswoman said that firefighters often had to attend sensitive settings.
