CDC focuses on fighting flu after Fitzgerald resignation

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the resignation of its director will not disrupt efforts to combat a severe flu season that’s killed more than 50 children and is on pace to break hospitalization records.
Brenda Fitzgerald, who took the helm in July, resigned Wednesday amid reports she added a tobacco company to her stock portfolio. Already, financial conflicts of interest had forced her to recuse herself from a swath of agency business.
“Despite recent leadership changes, CDC remains committed to our 24-7 mission to protect the health, safety and security of Americans,” said acting CDC Director Anne Schuchat. “And that mission will not falter.”
The CDC is battling a particularly dreadful flu season, driven in large part by a H3N2 strain that’s been resistant to this year’s vaccine. People older than 65 and younger than 5 are at the most risk.
Officials recorded 16 more pediatric deaths from flu last week, meaning this flu season has killed a total of 53 children.
Beyond H3N2, the H1N1 and “influenza B” strains are taking a toll.“All of the different types of influenza are causing these deaths,” said Dan Jernigan, director of the influenza division at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
CDC said the number of people landing in the hospital is on pace to exceed an awful 2014-2015 season, when it recorded 710,000 hospitalizations.
On the bright side, the CDC said flu activity in the West receded for the second week in a row.
Yet 48 states are still reporting widespread flu in a brutal season that will probably last for several more weeks.
“We continue to recommend the flu vaccine, even though we know most flu vaccines have low effectiveness against H3N2 viruses,” Dr. Schuchat said.
Dr. Schuchat said people 65 and older should also get a pneumococcal vaccine to protect against secondary infections exacerbated by the flu.
Location: United States

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump marks Holocaust remembrance day with pledge of ‘Never Again!’

Image
President   Trump   marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Saturday by tweeting a message of resolve to prevent another genocide. “On Holocaust Remembrance Day we mourn and grieve the murder of 6 million innocent Jewish men, women and children, and the millions of others who perished in the evil Nazi Genocide. We pledge with all of our might and resolve: Never Again!” the president said on Twitter. The president spent the day at the White House, after returning Friday night from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. First lady Melania Trump   toured the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington on Thursday. “My thoughts and prayers are with the people whose lives and families were broken by the horrors of the Holocaust,” she said after the tour. “Yet it is also through our shared humanity that we come together now in commemoration, strength, and love. My heart is with you, and we remember.”
Read more

White roses, Kesha offer rallying cry for women at Grammys

Image
NEW YORK — Dozens of Grammy Award performers and attendees wore or held white roses Sunday in support of the Time’s Up movement, in an awards season where every awards show has confronted sexual misconduct in show business. “My message on this is for everybody to treat each other like we want to be treated,” said Reba McEntire, winner for best roots gospel album. “It’s the golden rule.” Singer-songwriter Ledisi, nominated for three Grammys and a performer at the Women’s March in Las Vegas earlier this month, had this thought: “It’s important for us to call out this madness.” Most stars wore black and a Time’s Up pin in support of the movement at the Golden Globes earlier this month. At the Screen Actors Guild awards, all the presenters were women. “I was just saying to someone that it’s so commonplace that most of the time women don’t even know they’ve been harassed,” said Andra Day, nominated for two R&B Grammys. “So I think talking about it and changing the nar...
Read more

Gay Olympic skater slams Mike Pence selection to lead U.S. delegation

Image
Olympic figure skater   Adam Rippon   has slammed the   White House ’s selection of Vice President   Mike Pence   to lead the 2018 U.S. Olympic delegation. Mr. Rippon , who is believed to be the first openly gay U.S. Winter Olympian,   told   USA Today during an   interview   Tuesday night that he “wouldn’t go out of [his] way” to meet with the vice president if given the opportunity before the 2018 Olympics kick off in PyeongChang, South Korea. “If it were before my event, I would absolutely not go out of my way to meet somebody who I felt has gone out of their way to not only show that they aren’t a friend of a gay person but that they think that they’re sick,”   Mr. Rippon   said. “I wouldn’t go out of my way to meet somebody like that.” The Olympic skater was referring to a common belief in the LGBT community that   Mr. Pence   supported gay conversion therapy when he was a congressional candidate in Indiana...
Read more