GOING TO BE DIFFERENT CASES OF THE FLU ON THE RISE, AND NOW THERE’S A NEW PROBLEM WHEN IT
COMES TO TREATING IT. THE PAST
TWO FLU SEASONS WERE EXTREMELY
MILD, THANKS IN LARGE PART TO
THE PRECAUTIONS WE WERE TAKING
BECAUSE OF COVID. UNFORTUNATELY
THIS YEAR SITUATION COULDN’T BE
MORE SERIOUS, AND EXPERTS FROM
THE CDC AND THE A M A ARE TRYING
TO GET THE WORD OUT SO EVERYONE
WILL GET OUT AND GET VACCINATED.
ESPECIALLY COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
ARE DR FRANK MCGEORGE SPOKE WITH
THEM TODAY JOINS US NOW FOR A
STATE OF THE FLU UPDATE IF YOU
WILL DOCK YEAH, EXACTLY HUMAN,
JASON. SO THE MOST CURRENT CDC
INFLUENZA MAP STILL SHOWS
MICHIGAN AT A LOW LEVEL COMPARED
TO EVERY NEIGHBORING STATE WHERE
IT’S EITHER HIGH OR AT THE
HIGHEST, VERY HIGH LEVEL. SO THE
BAD NEWS IS THERE IS NO WAY THAT
WE ARE GOING TO STAY AT A LOW
LEVEL. SOMEWHAT GOOD NEWS IS IT
MAY HAVE BOUGHT YOU ANOTHER WEEK
TO GET VACCINATED IF YOU HAVEN’T
DONE IT YET. WE’VE ALREADY SEEN
NEARLY NINE MILLION FLU
ILLNESSES, 78,000
HOSPITALIZATIONS AND ABOUT 4500
DEATHS FROM FLU THIS SEASON
ALONE THAT’S DOCTOR CHASSIS
WALKER FROM THE CENTERS FOR
DISEASE CONTROL. SHE WAS JOINED
BY DR WILLIE UNDERWOOD FROM THE
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION TO
URGE PEOPLE TO GET THEIR FLU
SHOTS. CAN YOU ADDRESS THE
SPECIFICS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF
INFLUENZA VACCINE IN COMMUNITIES
OF COLOR? YES WE KNOW THAT
AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE 80% MORE
LIKELY TO BE HOSPITALIZED AND
HAVE POOR OUTCOMES FROM THE FLU
ARE NATIVE NATIVE AMERICANS AND
ASKING ALASKAN NATIVES ARE 30%
HIGHER AND HISPANICS ARE 20%
HIGHER, MORE LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN
HOSPITALIZED OR HAVE SIGNIFICANT
OUTCOMES FROM GETTING THE FLU
WHILE WE UNDERSTAND THAT THERE
MAY BE SOME FATIGUE AROUND
VACCINATION. THIS REALLY IS ONE
OF THE THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO TO
KEEP YOURSELVES YOUR FAMILIES
AND YOUR COMMUNITIES SAFE AND
IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THOSE
AT HIGHER RISK OF DEVELOPING
SERIOUS COMPLICATIONS. YOUNG
CHILDREN. THOSE OLDER ADULTS
OVER 65 BLACK HISPANIC PEOPLE
WHO ARE HIGHER RISK THOSE WITH
UNDERLYING MEDICAL CONDITIONS TO
REALLY GET VACCINATED. LUTHER
KING BE SIGNIFICANT AND IT CAN
BE DEADLY. NOW, IN MOST CASES,
THE FLU SHOT WILL BE COVERED BY
YOUR INSURANCE. AND IF NOT,
THERE ARE ALSO FREE OR LOW COST
OPTIONS AVAILABLE, PARTICULARLY
AT LOCAL COMMUNITY CLINICS OR
THE PUBLIC HEALTH DEPART. AND TO
FIND A LIST OF FLU SHOT
LOCATIONS. GO TO GET MY FLU SHOT
DOT ORG. THAT’S GET MY FLU SHOT
TWICE. QUESTION. I KNOW WE’VE
TALKED IN YEARS PAST ABOUT HOW
THE FLU VACCINE IS NOT CLOSE TO
THE STREAM THAT’S CURRENTLY
CIRCULATING. DO WE KNOW YET IF
THIS PARTICULAR VACCINE IS WELL
, YOU KNOW ALL OF THE
INFORMATION SO FAR THAT WE HAVE
IS THAT IT SEEMS TO BE A FAIRLY
GOOD MATCH. BUT IT’S REALLY
IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT ALONG
THOSE LINES. EVEN IN YEARS WHEN
IT IS A POOR MATCH, THERE IS
STILL A 35% REDUCTION IN
HOSPITALIZATIONS. SO IT HELPS,
REGARDLESS, BUT OBVIOUSLY IT
HELPS EVEN MORE IN A GOOD MATCH
HERE. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. OKAY
THANKS, TODD. GETTING THE FLU IS
BAD ENOUGH. BUT NOW ANOTHER
PROBLEM. UM IS STARTING TO
EMERGE, SOMETHING DOC HAS
TOUCHED DOWN A FEW TIMES.
THERE’S A SHORTAGE OF MEDICINE
USED TO TREAT IT, INCLUDING
TAMIFLU, AND IT’S GENERIC
VERSIONS. A GRAY WITH THAT PART
OF THE STORY TONIGHT. GOOD GOOD
DOCTORS, OFFICES AND HOSPITALS
ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE PACKED,
PUSHED TO THEIR LIMITS WITH
PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM THE FLU
. WE’RE ALREADY KIND OF MID
JANUARY LEVELS. YOU KNOW THE
INTERESTING AND A LITTLE BIT
SCARY TO SEE WHERE THIS GOES
FROM HERE. THE CENTERS FOR
DISEASE CONTROL SAYS THE EARLY
FLU SEASON THIS YEAR IS THE MOST
SEVERE THEY’VE SEEN IN A DECADE
WITH 8.7 MILLION CASES, 78,000
HOSPITALIZATIONS AND 4500
DEATHS. SINCE JUST OCTOBER THAT
SEARCH NOW PUTTING A NATIONWIDE
STRAIN ON SUPPLIES OF TAMIFLU.
THE MEDICINE DOESN’T KILL THE
VIRUS, BUT DOES SLOW IT DOWN
ANYTIME WE FACE A LOWER VIRAL OR
BACTERIAL LOAD AT THE TIME OF
ILLNESS OR DURING THE ILLNESS
WILL HAVE FEWER SYMPTOMS. BUT
FOR MANY PATIENTS THAT RELIEF
MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE ANYTIME
SOON. TAMIFLU SHORTAGE IS HERE
TO STAY. IT’S NOT GOING TO GET
FIXED UP VERY FAST AT ALL. IN
FACT, SOME WORRY IT COULD GET
EVEN WORSE WITH RSV AND COVID
CASES. ALSO ON THE RISE. J. GRAY