(Media) As flu cases spike in Florida ERs, the CDC issued guidance to identify bird flu last week

[Commonground]

[bolding is mine]
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.
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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.

https://www.wusf.org/health-news-fl...ike-florida-cdc-issues-guidance-identify-bird

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[sharon sanders]

Please see:

CDC - HAN - Accelerated Subtyping of Influenza A in Hospitalized Patients (January 16, 2025)​

 

[sharon sanders]

bump this

 

[sharon sanders]

Florida faces surge in severe flu, COVID-19, and RSV cases, concerning doctors

By Esther Bower
Published January 23, 2025 10:20pm EST
Brevard County
FOX 35 Orlando​


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"It’s creating some very violent symptoms," said Dr. Michael Sparks of SparksMD Family Medicine. "We’re having a lot of patients who are struggling to kind of shake it, if you will, and even some requiring emergency visits for pneumonia or secondary bacterial infections, as well."

He isn’t the only provider seeing the surge in illness.

"It just hits them like a ton of bricks," said Dr. Gary Hardoon who specializes in internal medicine with Health First.
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more....


https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/f...ases-concerning-doctors-very-violent-symptoms

 

[Commonground]

Pinellas among 13 Florida counties with outbreak of flu

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Samples from more than 20,000 patients tested in laboratories came back positive for flu in the third week of January, more than double the number of positives in November, according to influenza surveillance data reported to the Florida Department of Health by hospitals and clinics.

Most outbreaks were in the Panhandle and northeast Florida but reports also identified an outbreak in Pinellas. The bulk of the cases are the influenza A H3 strain.

Tampa Bay hospitals are also reporting an increase in flu cases.

Roughly 23% of patients tested for flu in January at Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital in St. Petersburg were positive for the virus compared to 9% in December, officials said.
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At Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, doctors have treated almost 450 children with flu so far this month. The positivity rate among children tested for the virus rose to 30%, almost double the rate in December​
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The number of patients admitted for flu at BayCare hospitals across Tampa Bay rose from 68 in December to 123 so far this month. Almost half of the cases were in Pinellas.

...https://www.tampabay.com/news/healt...-among-13-florida-counties-with-outbreak-flu/