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Published January 23, 2025 at 12:24 PM EST
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week advised a need for faster flu testing to help identify possible bird flu cases hiding in the flock of rising flu diagnoses around the country.
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“If a patient with ‘influenza A’ is in our care, but the H1 or the H3 subtype tests come in negative, that would suggest that there could be a different subtype, and that needs to be checked out,” said Dr. Vincent Hsu, an infectious disease expert at AdventHealth.
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According to the Department of Health, Florida’s flu-related emergency department visits rose to 6%, which is 2% higher than last year and about 5% higher than in 2021.
Hsu said AdventHealth is complying with CDC guidance, and while it can’t test for bird flu, it can help weed out results by talking to patients about their daily routines - and possible exposures.
“The main thing that we also do is really ask about exposure to birds, wild birds, chicken farms or dairy herds because those are clues,” he said.
-snip-
Central Florida Public Media reached out to Orlando Health to ask if it was following CDC guidelines related to bird flu testing, but it did not respond to comment.
Published January 23, 2025 at 12:24 PM EST
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week advised a need for faster flu testing to help identify possible bird flu cases hiding in the flock of rising flu diagnoses around the country.
-snip-
“If a patient with ‘influenza A’ is in our care, but the H1 or the H3 subtype tests come in negative, that would suggest that there could be a different subtype, and that needs to be checked out,” said Dr. Vincent Hsu, an infectious disease expert at AdventHealth.
-snip-
According to the Department of Health, Florida’s flu-related emergency department visits rose to 6%, which is 2% higher than last year and about 5% higher than in 2021.
Hsu said AdventHealth is complying with CDC guidance, and while it can’t test for bird flu, it can help weed out results by talking to patients about their daily routines - and possible exposures.
“The main thing that we also do is really ask about exposure to birds, wild birds, chicken farms or dairy herds because those are clues,” he said.
-snip-
Central Florida Public Media reached out to Orlando Health to ask if it was following CDC guidelines related to bird flu testing, but it did not respond to comment.
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