Flu Vaccine Only 36 Percent Effective This Year
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the 2025–2026 influenza vaccine showed reduced effectiveness compared to previous seasons. Researchers linked the lower performance to the emergence of a new influenza A(H3N2) subclade that differed from the strain used to manufacture the vaccine.1 The CDC reported overall flu shot effectiveness at 36 […]
U.K. School Lockdowns Return Amid “Super Flu” Surge Reports
A “super-flu” strain is being reported across the United Kingdom, prompting several schools to close and increasing admissions to hospitals as influenza infection rates rise.1 The outbreak involves a mutation of the influenza A virus known as either H3N2 or as subclade K, emerging earlier in the winter than usual and contributing to disruption across […]
ACIP Majority Ignores Risks and Recommends Infants Get Merck’s RSV Monoclonal Antibody
On June 25, 2025, the majority of members of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) ignored risk warnings and voted for a recommendation that infants be given Merck & Co.’s monoclonal antibody, clesrovimab, marketed as Enflonsia. The committee advised using Enflonsia to prevent Respiratory Syncytial Virus […]
ACIP Considers Changes to HPV Vaccine Recommendations
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) current universal use recommendation for the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine is two doses given to adolescent by ages 11-12 and three doses if the series is started on or after age 15. The vaccine can be given to children as young as age nine, but that […]
Study Reveals Women at Higher Risk for Long COVID
A study published in JAMA Network Open on Jan. 22, 2025 revealed that women are at a much higher risk of developing long COVID. The study authors concluded that, while men tend to experience more severe symptoms and higher death rates from the acute phase of COVID-19, women are more likely to suffer from lasting […]
First Severe Case of Human Bird Flu Confirmed in U.S.
Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have confirmed diagnosis of the first severe human case of “bird flu” or H5N1 avian influenza. They determined that the hospitalized patient, a resident of Louisiana, was exposed to “sick and dead birds in backyard flocks,” although the source of the infection in the […]