Karen Weintraub USA Today (January 20, 2023) – Healthy people should get annual COVID-19 boosters to prevent widespread outbreaks, suggests a new study from Yale University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Yearly shots provide just enough frequency to prevent huge outbreaks while not putting an undue burden on people. “There seems to be an […]

CNBC (January 17, 2023) – Spencer Kimball@SPENCEKIMBALL KEY POINTS The RSV vaccine was 83.7% effective at preventing lower respiratory tract disease, defined as two or more symptoms, in people ages 60 and older, according to Moderna. RSV infections kill between 6,000 and 10,000 older adults every year and result in 60,000 to 120,000 hospitalizations, according […]

Business Wire (January 18, 2023) UPPER NYACK, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) today published a new report finding an increase nationwide in people receiving vaccines at pharmacies compared to physician practices in 2020 and 2021. Data show that across all vaccines for adults (regardless of location, gender, or income), a large majority of the administration took place […]

CNN (January 18, 2023)— Vaccine rates for measles, polio, diphtheria and other diseases are decreasing among US children, according to a new study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate of immunizations for required vaccines among kindergarten students declined from 95% to approximately 94% during the 2020-21 school year. It dropped further — to […]

PENNSYLVANIA (WHTM) — According to Pennsylvania Department of Health data checked at 10:15 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2023, there were 15,177 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Pennsylvania from Wednesday, Dec. 28, through Tuesday, Jan. 3. The daily case breakdown from the most recent seven days, according to DOH data, is as follows: Dec. 28 — 3,143 […]

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Jan 5th, 2022) – COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania and New Jersey increased after the winter holidays as the latest variant of the virus becomes more prevalent in the region, data show. A new omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, appears to be more transmissible than earlier forms of COVID and as of the end of […]

Jan 5 (Reuters) – The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Thursday launched a virtual program aimed at making antiviral treatments for COVID-19 available at home for those who test positive. Local and state officials from Berks County in Pennsylvania will be the first to pilot the program, known as Home Test to Treat, later this […]

According to MedPage Today (1/10, Frieden), the COVID-19 pandemic has “exacerbated existing trends in food insecurity” among older adults in the U.S. Before the pandemic, “food insecurity – generally defined as a lack of access to a sufficient amount of nutritious foods – was an issue in” this country, “a survey of about 2,000 older […]

USA Today (1/4, Weintraub) reports, “The latest COVID-19 variant to sweep across the country, XBB.1.5, doesn’t appear to cause more serious disease than its predecessors, experts say.” According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “as of Dec. 31, XBB.1.5 accounted for more than 40% of cases in the United States, up […]

The Washington Post (December 26, 2022) – Anti-vaccine sentiment has increased since the pandemic, driven by politicization around the coronavirus vaccine A rapidly growing measles outbreak in Columbus, Ohio — largely involving unvaccinated children — is fueling concerns among health officials that more parent resistance to routine childhood immunizations will intensify a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases. […]

The Washington Post (Dec. 22, 2022) – Nearly every adult ICU bed in Oregon is occupied, driven by an uptick in respiratory viruses. Portland-area hospitals are operating at a “crisis” level for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. The dire picture has prompted state health officials to implore people to slap their masks on, once […]

Medscape (Dec. 16, 2022) – It’s a story perhaps more appropriate for Halloween than for the festive holiday season, given its scary implications. Four Omicron subvariants of the virus that causes COVID-19 will be the most common strains going from person to person this winter, new research predicts. Not too dire so far, until you […]

Penn Live (Updated: Dec. 20, 2022) – Pennsylvania flu cases made another giant leap last week, with the weekly case count by far the highest in at least eight years. The state health department recorded nearly 25,000 positive flu test results for the week ending Saturday, a sharp increase from the previous week, and nearly […]

Pleasant on Weekly (Mon, Dec 12, 2022) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday expanded its authorization for the omicron-specific COVID-19 booster vaccine to include children under age 5. Children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years who received the initial Moderna COVID-19 vaccine will become eligible for the Moderna booster […]

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – The brutal flu season doctors have been warning of is finally here. Over 12-thousand infections have already been reported across the Commonwealth, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Public Health. “We’re seeing the flu season hit much earlier and much harder,” UPMC Infectious Disease Expert Dr. John Goldman said. “Usually, peak […]

Penn Live ( Dec. 09, 2022) – Pennsylvania flu cases made another giant leap last week, with the weekly case count by far the highest in at least eight years. The state health department recorded nearly 25,000 positive flu test results for the week ending Saturday, a sharp increase from the previous week, and nearly […]

Dec 05, 2022 | COVID News – The Franklin Institute is partnering with the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC) to develop toolkits for supporting nurses in leading COVID-19 vaccine education in schools and community health settings. The project seeks to engage a national cohort of up to 30 nurses who work with early childhood and elementary age children. […]

Dec 08, 2022 in Parents PACK – In recent weeks, a virus known as respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, has been in the news as pediatric hospitals have been inundated with patients. This has led many to wonder about what RSV is and whether infants are the only ones at risk. So, this month, we thought we […]

HealthDay (12/16) reported “kids who get the flu and COVID-19 together may be in for a serious, even deadly, bout of illness, U.S. health officials said Friday.” Even though “the 2021-2022 flu season was mild, some children did get flu and COVID-19 together.” Of the children “who were hospitalized, many were severely ill and some […]

The Washington Post (12/17) reported hospitals this year have been “strained under the load of RSV infections and, more recently, influenza and the coronavirus.” The shortage of available hospital beds has affected “infants and children” especially, many of whom “have been transported out of their home cities and even to other states to find care.” […]

PennLive (Dec. 2) – Pennsylvania registered more flu cases last week than in any single week for at least eight years, according to new numbers from the state health department. The surge is also happening several weeks before cases begin their normal climb that often peaks in January following the Christmas and New Year holidays. […]

The Lehigh Valley has amassed over 200,000 cases of COVID-19 since March 2020, but the region currently is on track to avoid another overwhelming pandemic winter. For over a month now, both Lehigh and Northampton counties have combined to average just around 100 cases per day — currently at 104 new cases per day — and usually even a little less […]

Williamsport Sun-Gazette (Nov. 27th, 2022) – According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the flu, or influenza, affected about nine million people last flu season (October through May). This is presumably due to COVID-19 mitigation efforts such as masking and social distancing that have since become less pressurized. While you may feel […]