Sonya Stokes, an ambulance doctor in the San Francisco Bay Zone, is preparing for the day by day reservoir of patients with cough, pain, fever, vomiting and other flu symptoms.
He marks information, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a key source of urgent flu analyzes and other threats to public health, is silenced inside weeks of the time of the office by President Donald Trump.
“We are blind without more information,” she said.
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This season, the flu was brutal. . CDC estimates At least 24 million diseases, 310,000 hospitalizations and 13,000 deaths from the starting of October. At the same time, flu bird explosion still infects cattle and agricultural staff. However, CDC analyzes that will inform people about these situations are delayed, and CDC limited communication with doctors, researchers and the world health organization, say doctors and experts for public health.
“CDC is currently not reporting influenza data via global WHO platforms, FLUNENET [and] The liquid that they provided information [on] For many, many years – Maria Van Kerkhove, temporary director of the epidemic and pandemic readiness in WHO, said on February 12 Press briefs.
“We communicate with them,” she added, “but we didn’t hear anything.”
On the first day of office, President Donald Trump announced that the US would withdraw from WHO.
The critical analysis of the seasonal flu chosen for distribution via the CDC health alert network is stalled, according to people similar to CDC. They asked not to identify because of the fears of retaliation. The network, shortened as Han, is the main method of sharing urgent information about public health with health officials, doctors and sometimes the audience.
The chart of this analysis, analyzed by KFF Health News, suggests that flu can be at a record level. About 7.7% of patients who visited clinics and hospitals without confession had symptoms similar to influenza at the beginning of February, the indicator higher than in four other flu seasons shown in the chart. This covers 2003-04, when the atypical influenza strain fueled a particularly treacherous season, which he killed at least 153 children.
However, without full analysis it is not clear whether this wave of disease announces an increase in hospitalization and deaths for which hospitals, pharmacies and schools must prepare. In particular, other data may convey how many influenza-like diseases are caused by influenza-lub viruses that the flu strain infect people. A deeper report may also reveal whether the flu is stronger or contagious than usual.
“I would like to know if we’re coping with a more virulent strain or a coin with one other virus that makes my patients sick and what to search for to know if my patients are in peril,” Stokes said. “Delays in the data create dangerous situations on the front line.”
Although CDC Dashboard fluboard It shows influenza growth, does not contain all the data needed to interpret the situation. It also does not offer adapted advice found in HAN, which inform healthcarers, how to protect patients and society. For example, in 2023, the report called on clinics to test patients with respiratory symptoms, instead of assuming that cases are flu, because other viruses caused similar problems this year.
“It’s extremely disturbing,” said Rachel Hardeman, a member of the CDC Director Advisory Committee. On February 10, Hardeman and other members of the Committee wrote to be the director of CDC Susan Monarez to explain the missing data, delayed research and potentially serious staff cuts. “CDC is crucial for the safety of our nation,” said the letter.
There were also several studies delayed or remain missing From the most important CDC scientific publication, a weekly report on incidence and mortality. Anne Schuchat, the former deputy director in CDC, said that she was worried if there was political supervision over the scientific material: “Information suppression is potentially misleading, perhaps dangerous and can reverse it.”
CDC spokesman Melissa Dibble refused to comment on delayed or missing analyzes. “It is unexpected that flu activity is increased and growing at the moment of 12 months,” she said.
The design of one unpublished study, reviewed by KFF Health News, which has been detained from MMWR for three weeks, describes how the milk carrier and a dairy employee in Michigan could spread bird flu on their cats. Internal cats seriously fell ill and died. Although the employees were not tested, the study says that one of them had irritated eyes before the cat got sick – a common symptom of bird flu. This person told researchers that the pet “goes on in his work clothes”.
After one cat fell ill, he reports that a teenager in a household developed a cough. But the report says that this young person tested negative for flu and positively for the cold virus.
The relevant CDC documents summarizing the CAT and other, but unpublished bird flu analysis stated that the reports were published on January 23. They were checked by KFF Health News. Briefing about cats advises agricultural workers to “remove clothing and footwear and rinse all two -production stays of animals before entering the household in an effort to protect others in the household, including potentially internal cats.”
The second summary refers to the “most comprehensive” analysis of the bird influenza virus detected in sewage in the United States.
Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, said that delays in fluo -bird reports are disturbing because they are needed to inform the public about the deterioration of the situation with many unknown elements. Citing “insufficient data” and “high uncertainty”, erected Great Britain its assessment Risk of the American explosion on dairy.
“Missing and delayed data cause uncertainty,” said Nuzzo. “Potentially makes us react in a way that brings the opposite effect to the intended one.”
Another study of influenza birds shown for the January publication appeared in MMWR on February 13, Three weeks after waiting. It revealed That three cattle vets were unconsciously infected last year, based on the discovery of antibodies against the bird influenza virus in the blood. One of the veterinarians worked in Georgia and southern Carolina, states that they did not report explosions on a dairy farm.
The study provides further evidence that the United States does not detect cases in cows and people, accordingly. Nuzzo said that he also emphasizes how data can provide calming messages. Only three of 150 cattle vets had signs of previous infections, which suggests that the virus does not spread from animals to humans. Over 40 dairy workers were infected, but usually they had more continuous contact with sick cattle and their milk with a heavy virus than veterinarians.
Instead, recently published reports relate to fires in California and Hawaii.
“Interesting but not urgent,” Nuzzo said, taking into account that the sharp situations of fire ended. She said that the explosion of influenza birds is a constant “urgent threat to health, for which we want current information to know how you can protect people.”
“American public opinion is more exposed to risk when we now have no information in a timely manner,” said Schuchat.
This week, the federal judge ordered CDC and other health agencies to “restore” data sets and websites that the organization of American doctors identified in the process that has been changed. In addition, the judge ordered the agencies to “discover all other resources on which DFA members rely in an effort to provide medical care” and restore them until February 14.
In their list, members of the CDC Advisory Committee demanded investigation into missing data and delayed reports. Hardeman, an advisor who is an expert on health policy at the University of Minnesota, said that the group did not know why the data and scientific results were suspended or deleted. Despite this, she added: “I answer to the director of CDC, head of HHS and the White House.”
Hardeman said that Trump’s administration is entitled to solve the Advisory Committee. She said that the group expected that this would happen, but regardless of the fact that they continued their demands.
“We wish to secure the rigor of work in CDC because we deeply care about public health,” she said. “We aren’t here to stay silent.”
KFF Health NewsPreviously known as Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a domestic newsroom that produces in -depth journalism on health problems and is one of the basic operational programs in KFF – Independent source of research of health policy, voting and journalism.
