Yeah, okay, it’s not time to freak out. You should never freak out. In fact, the first rule of emergencies is to stay calm. So stay calm. The “Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine” (LAIV) sold under the trademark FluMist in the United States seems to be in short supply. But this is the case right now and won’t be by the end…
Today’s weekly national flu report had the following nugget of information under the virology section: “41(48%) of the 85 H3N2 viruses tested have been characterized as A/Texas/50/2012-like, the influenza A (H3N2) component of the 2014-2015 Northern Hemisphere influenza vaccine. 44 (52%) of the 85 viruses tested showed either reduced titers with antiserum produced against A/Texas/50/2012 or belonged to a genetic…
When we last talked about Dr. Brian S. Hooker and his research into autism and the MMR vaccine, I told you about how the journal article published in Translational Neurodegeneration had been removed. Today comes news that the article has been retracted.
An interesting thing happened today in the elevator at school. A friend of mine and I walked in to go from the second to the sixth floor. As we walked into the elevator, I noticed that it was a bit crowded. “Whoa,” I said, “I hope everyone got their flu shot.” A couple of people smiled, a couple of others…
Influenza season is in full swing in the United States, with several deaths reported in different places in the country. There was even a death in Canada associated with the dreaded H5N1 strain from Asia. The six years that I spent at the health department were about 70% all about influenza surveillance, keeping everyone in the loop on where the…
