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Tag: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Less than 5% of US preschool cohort hospitalized for COVID were fully vaccinated, study finds

Only 4.5% of a cohort of pediatric COVID-19 patients admitted to US hospitals during the period of Omicron predominance had completed their primary COVID-19 vaccine series, and 7.0% had started but didn’t finish the series, The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal reports.

The study team, led by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers, enrolled 597 vaccine-eligible COVID-19 inpatients aged 8 months to 4 years at 28 hospitals participating in the Overcoming COVID-19 network from September 2022 to May 2023. A total of 62.1% of patients were aged 8 months to 1 year, and 37.9% were aged 2 to 4 years.

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CDC says JN.1 variant accounts for 39%-50% of COVID cases in US

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday that COVID subvariant JN.1 accounts for 39% to 50% of cases in the United States as of Dec. 23, according to the agency’s projections.

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New COVID variant JN.1 surges to 44% of cases, CDC estimates — even higher in New York, New Jersey

The new COVID-19 variant that scientists call JN.1 now makes up about 44.1% of COVID-19 cases across the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Friday, marking another week of the fast-spreading variant’s steep rise in the U.S.

The increase is more than two times larger than the 21.3% that the CDC now estimates the strain made up of infections for the week ending Dec. 9, after Thanksgiving.

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COVID and flu surge could strain hospitals as JN.1 variant grows, CDC warns

Hospitals and emergency rooms could be forced to ration care by the end of this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Thursday, saying recent trends in COVID-19 and influenza are now on track to again strain America’s health care system. The new COVID variant JN.1 is making up an increasing share of cases, the CDC’s tracking shows.

“COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising quickly,” the agency said in its weekly update. “Since the summer, public health officials have been tracking a rise in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which is caused by COVID-19. Influenza activity is growing in most parts of the country. RSV activity remains high in many areas.”

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US life expectancy rose last year, but it remains below its pre-pandemic level

U.S. life expectancy rose last year — by more than a year — but still isn’t close to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2022 rise was mainly due to the waning pandemic, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers said Wednesday. But even with the large increase, U.S. life expectancy is only back to 77 years, 6 months — about what it was two decades ago.

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COVID variant BA.2.86 triples in new CDC estimates, now 8.8% of cases

Nearly 1 in 10 new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are from the BA.2.86 variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Monday, nearly triple what the agency estimated the highly mutated variant’s prevalence was two weeks ago.

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In Hospitals, Viruses Are Everywhere. Masks Are Not.

Amid an uptick in Covid infections, administrators, staff and patients are divided over the need for masks in health care settings.

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Expected CDC guidance on N95 masks outrages health care workers

Nurses, researchers and workplace safety officers worry new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might reduce protection against the coronavirus and other airborne pathogens in hospitals.

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US CDC recommends broad use of updated COVID‑19 vaccines

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director on Tuesday signed off on broad use of updated COVID-19 vaccines approved by the government – covering ages 6 months and up – as the country prepares to start a vaccination campaign within days.

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Where Have All The Masks Gone? And Why Is The CDC Missing In Action?

The Biden administration has made a political choice—not a scientific or public health one—to downgrade the national response to COVID-19. Included in this is the reticence or outright avoidance of mentioning masking even as cases rise in the US. The CDC director, in talking about this late increase in COVID cases, bends over backward to mention hand-washing, but not N95s. Without question, N95s offer individuals protection against infection and leaving out that fact is a disservice and an abdication of duty.

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The CDC Doesn’t Care if You Get Sick and Die in The Hospital

“You might’ve heard the CDC is about to make things even more dangerous for patients when they vote on new, lower standards for infection control this November. This decision will hurt everyone. It will hurt doctors and nurses. It will hurt seniors. It will hurt children. It will hurt young, healthy adults (who goes to the hospital when they’re feeling great?) There’s only one small group it will help, and that’s healthcare CEOs and their bottom lines.”

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Updated Covid-19 vaccines are coming mid-September, officials say

Covid-19 vaccines that have been tweaked to teach the body how to fend off the current crop of circulating variants are now expected to land in drugstores and clinics in mid-September, CDC and FDA officials said.

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CDC weighs risk of BA.2.86 COVID-19 lineage as 3 more nations report sequences

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today issued its initial risk assessment of the BA.2.86 SARS-CoV-2 lineage, which says tests and treatments will likely be effective and that updated vaccines will still be able to reduce severe disease and hospitalizations.

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CDC tracking new COVID variant BA.2.86 after highly mutated strain reported in Michigan

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday it is tracking a recently discovered COVID-19 strain, BA.2.86, after a case of the highly mutated variant was discovered in Michigan.

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It might be time to upgrade your mask

If you’re still wearing a cloth or surgical mask when you’re out and about, it’s time to rethink your face covering.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to update its mask advice this week to best reflect the available options and the different levels of protection they provide, a CDC official told CNN Tuesday.

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