Influenza Increasing Across Americas - Credit PAHO
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While COVID Delta & Omicron continue their global tug-of-war, seasonal influenza has been making a return after more than 20 months of little to no activity, and leading this flu charge is a `drifted' A/H3N2 virus that may reduce the VE (Vaccine Effectiveness) of this year's flu shot.
Last week, WHO Europe announced Influenza Season Has Begun, a month ago we saw CDC HAN # 00458 : Increasing Seasonal Influenza A (H3N2) Activity, and we've seen recent ports from Brazil on their escalating spread of H3N2.
Yesterday (Dec. 28th) PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) released a new Epidemiological Report on the recent rise in influenza amid an ongoing COVID pandemic. A brief summary and a link to the 9-page document follow:
Epidemiological Update: Influenza - 28 December 2021
Considering the increase of cases of influenza A(H3N2) in some countries in the region, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) recommends that Member States adopt the necessary measures to prepare for the concomitant circulation of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 to ensure appropriate clinical management, including the procurement of antivirals supplies and their early administration to persons at risk of severe disease, ensure strict compliance with infection prevention control measures in health care services, and continue vaccination to prevent severe cases and deaths.
A summary of the influenza situation in the Region of the Americas by subregions, and of the cases reported in the last four epidemiological weeks can be found in this document.
Concerns that we could see a `twindemic' of Influenza and COVID have risen in recent weeks, and that could not only impact our ability to differentiate between viral infections, it could seriously increase the load on already overburdened healthcare delivery services in the weeks and months ahead.
Complicating matters further, there are genuine concerns over the impact of coinfections with COVID and Influenza, which - while only rarely reported thus far - are feared could increase mortality rates over monoinfection by either virus.
PHE Study: Co-Infection With COVID-19 & Seasonal Influenza,
Clinical and virological impact of single and dual infections with influenza A (H1N1) and SARS-CoV-2 in adult inpatients
While the concomitant circulation of seasonal influenza and SARS-CoV-2 was all but assured to happen at some point, it comes a particularly bad time, with the global spread of a new, highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Although it may feel like `piling on' at this point, viruses simply don't care.
