Influenza

Compared with patients hospitalized with influenza, patients hospitalized with COVID-19, both before and during vaccine availability, had elevated risk for venous thromboembolism, researchers reported in JAMA.

The FDA has approved the oral influenza medication Xofluza for children aged 5 to 11 years who have been symptomatic for no more than 48 hours, Genentech announced.

All providers supported administering vaccines that are safe in pregnancy to their pregnant patients, according to a poster presented at the Infectious Diseases Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology Annual Meeting.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously on Wednesday to recommend enhanced influenza vaccines for older Americans, introduce a second MMR vaccine, and OK a 15-valent pneumococcal vaccine for children.

Although favipiravir showed significant antiviral effects in two phase 3 influenza trials, the clinical efficacy results differed between the trials “for unclear reasons,” researchers reported in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Influenza vaccine or placebo in patients with HF.

Influenza vaccination coverage in adults with early rheumatoid arthritis in Canada remains “suboptimal,” according to data published in ACR Open Rheumatology.

WASHINGTON — People with HF who received an annual influenza vaccine had a reduction in major CV events during peak influenza season and lower rates of hospitalization and pneumonia on a year-round basis, according to the IVVE study.

The quadrivalent live attenuated influenza vaccine — also known as the nasal spray vaccine — does not exacerbate asthma in children aged older than 4 years, according to data from a randomized controlled trial published in Pediatrics.

According to interim estimates, the influenza vaccine has been 16% effective this season against the circulating virus — influenza A(H3N2).