The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is refusing to consider Moderna's application for an mRNA flu vaccine. The company has applied for the vaccine's approval in Europe, Canada and Australia. Here's more from
@AssociatedPress.
🤧🚫 Researchers at the University of #Maryland locked #flu-positive students in a room with healthy volunteers, expecting a total spread. Instead, zero people caught the #virus.
The data suggests that simple air movement from a heater and dehumidifier diluted the virus clouds so effectively that even close contact wasn't enough to pass it on.
My local hospital system (Banner, all locations at least in Tucson) has a new mask mandate because of the current rough flu season. This morning I accompanied a relative to an outpatient appointment at Banner North, and every person I saw in the building was following the mandate. Patients, employees, people at the cafeteria, everyone. I didn't hear any complaints as people got to the entrance, although clearly a lot of people hadn't realized they would need a mask. (The facility was happily handing them out.) I'm really pleased by this, even if it's for the current flu season and not for Covid or long term. #Covid#flu#Tucson#Arizona
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that there have been over seven million cases of the flu this season, resulting in an estimated 81,000 hospitalizations and 3,100 deaths.
If only there was a vaccine available to prevent this.
As the NHS crisis grinds on we can take some relief from the news that for the second week running the number of flu cases in English hospitals has fallen... suggesting the programme of vaccination has worked well, and (perhaps) we're getting better at taking precautions.
The cold snap may change that but for now it looks like the NHS is on top of the current flu outbreak - which is good news (so lets savour that!)
New year & w/ Gratitude to the #Community🫂Thank u so much to those reach out and help,I really appreciate u guys!🤍
QUIET UPDATE: Here I am gently Reposting coz sadly Goal still Not Meet.[Kindly see my pinnedpost 4 detail/context] 😭Day1 of 2026 and I caught a FLU fever/drycough/headsche.Staying Hopeful small steps at a time.
I'll start applying 4 Jobs thats Hiring in the City😔Got to get rid of this #Flu ASAP😢 A little help & support makes a big difference,BOOST are ALREADY A BIG HELP #mutualaid
Covid-19 jab tomorrow at some expense. Should’ve done it ages ago. Haven’t had a flu jab yet will do that next week my local was out of stock. #covid19#flu#vaccination
"While the ongoing ‘flu-nami’ is being invoked as the primary cause of the crisis, this is a convenient scapegoat when the reality is that the situation is the direct result of a longstanding and predictable breakdown in NHS capacity and workforce shortages.”
Vicki Price, President, Society for Acute Medicine
Get vaccinated, wear a mask and don't blame junior doctors.
Already this year's flu season looks worse than last with the rise in hospital admissions running ahead of recent years...
Mask requirements are back in hospitals, but of course, acorss the country there will be an increasing number of people not going to hospital but too ill to work.
This winter looks like it could be pretty grim (with all sorts of social problems compounded by staff absences).
Chart: Hospitals in England already under significant pressure from flu patients
Number of beds occupied by patients with flu. Show curve for this years flu hospitalisation is already ahead of last year and very far ahead of the curve for winter 2023/24
Brace yourself: If worldwide virus trends are any indication, the United States is headed for a doozy of a flu season. @npr speaks with scientists about the global clues that signal the winter illnesses ahead for the Northern Hemisphere. Plus: why you should definitely get this year’s so-so flu shot. https://flip.it/ZiPnn6 #Flu#Virus#FluSeason#US#America
Hello to all 🤒🫂 I'm really pushing myself here lol but no worries just want to say Hi to everyone here in #Mastodon
Hoping u guys are doing well & safe..Thank you 4 all who wished 4 my speedy recovery💙 U guys are amazing!
I'm still battling this bad flu [this one's tough😤] Trust me I really want this 2 leave me,but Bad news #leptopsirosis is going rampant here & I had 2 get tested either tomorrow or next day..PLEASE PRAY 4 ME.
Press Democrat: Sonoma County farmers confront new avian flu wave and debate over vaccine
"The first tastes of wintry weather have brought an ominous feeling back to Sonoma County’s poultry producers. At least three farms have tested positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Flu, or HPAI, in the past three weeks — early echoes of the 2023-24 winter outbreak that devastated the local industry...."
As respiratory virus season sets in and the holidays approach, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is reminding everyone to protect themselves against COVID-19, influenza (flu), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by getting updated vaccines for the 2025-26 respiratory virus season. #covid#flu#rsv#vaccination
We went and got our annual flu shot yesterday. You can’t be too careful these days. It was a painless event, though my wife mentioned feeling a bit icky later in the evening. Since we were already dressed, we decided to eat at a Chinese buffet. That’s both good and bad. I can usually find the kinds of food I should be eating—but then there’s dessert. I love the apple pie and vanilla ice cream. That’s my downfall. I know it’s there, and all I have to do is get up and go get it.
Most of my success in avoiding things that aren’t good for me comes down to one strategy: don’t have it around. If ice cream is in the house and I know it, I’m going to raid it. If it’s not in the house, all I can do is complain about not having any—which I do, but not seriously.
Once upon a time, many years ago while I was in the Army, I smoked cigarettes. Not the smartest habit, but back then a lot more people smoked than do today. I was stationed in Germany and wanted to quit, but quitting is hard. We had ration cards for items that could fuel a black market, and cigarettes were among them. Each year we received a new card, and every time we bought cigarettes, the cashier would mark off a spot. To help myself quit, I marked off all the cigarette rations on my card so I couldn’t buy any. It didn’t stop me overnight, but it made a real dent in the habit.
“Self-control is the chief element in self-respect, and self-respect is the chief element in courage.” — Thucydides
“I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.” — Mae West
“Don’t get caught—get the shot!” — Flu Prevention Campaign