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Flu

By adamg - 12/27/23 - 2:04 pm
Chart of Covid-19 particles in sewage from southern half of MWRA system

Covid-19 particles in sewage from southern half of MWRA system, showing a spike, if nowhere as large as at the end of 2021. Source.

The Boston Business Journal reports that with both Covid-19 and flu numbers spiking in the Boston area, Mass General Brigham will be requiring health-care workers to wear masks if they interact with patients starting Jan. 2. Read more.

By adamg - 1/3/23 - 1:56 pm

GBH interviews a Brigham and Women's doctor involved in a trial of Pfizer's flu vaccine, which like its Covid-19 shots, would involve lab-built RNA designed to stimulate an immune response, a technique that could speed delivery of new vaccines.

By adamg - 12/28/22 - 10:03 am

Mayor Wu said today a decision will come "soon" on whether to require BPS students and staffers to don mask for the first couple of weeks of school in January. Read more.

By adamg - 12/9/22 - 9:43 am

The Boston Public Health Commission reports 700 new flu cases in Boston over the past week - along with "a rapid increase in influenza-related pediatric hospitalizations." Read more.

By adamg - 11/9/21 - 1:37 pm

Northeastern University reports that samples from the Covid-19 swabs from students or staff who have flu-like symptoms are now also being tested for, well, the flu, in addition to Covid-19. Read more.

By adamg - 2/10/21 - 9:13 pm

A Kennedy School professor gave the medical mecca of the universe an F for its Covid-19 vaccination program so far - a program for which the governor has had to call out the National Guard because all these old people were being forced to stand outside for hours to get a shot in Springfield. Read more.

By adamg - 1/15/21 - 11:22 pm

WBZ reports the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has dropped a requirement that students need to get a flu shot, partly because there has been so little flu this season, partly because it needs to concentrate on getting people vaccinated against Covid-19 rather than on checking flu-shot compliance.

By adamg - 11/12/20 - 2:25 pm

Several parents today sued Gov. Baker over his order requiring all students under 30 to get flu shots or risk getting kicked out of school, saying it infringes on their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and their rights to raise their children as they see fit. Read more.

By adamg - 10/7/20 - 12:09 pm

Researchers at MIT, Harvard and Mass. General report progress in developing a "universal" flu vaccine that would work by getting the body to recognize a flu protein that rarely mutates but which the human immune system normally does not recognize. Read more.

By adamg - 8/19/20 - 4:30 pm

The state Department of Public Health announced today that it is now requiring all students and participants in pre-K programs to get a flu shot by Dec. 31 - as part of an effort to reduce "flu-related illness and ​the overall impact of respiratory illness during the COVID-19 pandemic." Read more.

By adamg - 2/1/20 - 1:41 pm

The state Department of Public Health and the University of Massachusetts Boston reported today that a UMass Boston student recently returned from Wuhan, China, was diagnosed with the 2019 novel coronavirus, the first in the state. Read more.

By adamg - 8/27/18 - 8:14 pm
Aboard the receiving ship at Commonwealth Pier in Boston

Sailors working out at Commonwealth Pier during the Great War. Source.

In August, 1918, Commonwealth Pier - today's World Trade Center - was a bustling place, with hundreds of sailors arriving there to await their permanent assignments for the "Great War" that the US had entered the year before.

Sometime on Aug. 27 or 28, two sailors reported, yes, flu-like symptoms. Read more.

By adamg - 2/8/18 - 7:02 pm

WCVB reports on the death of the baby this afternoon on Deering Road, near Harvard Street.

By adamg - 10/7/15 - 2:23 pm

BIDMC's Flu Fighters Shake It Off

Flu-fighting staffers at Beth Israel get down to this. sick. beat.

H/t Nick McNulty.

By adamg - 2/3/15 - 2:59 pm
Flu on the increase in Boston

ILI="Influenza-like illness." Source: BPHC.

The Boston Public Health Commission reports an increase in flu and flu-like cases over the last few weeks in Boston.

By adamg - 1/18/13 - 3:40 pm

Stats for last week show Boston experienced the same number of flu cases as the week before - and that ER visits for flu like symptoms actually went up.

Statewide, the number of flu cases dipped from the week before.

By adamg - 1/11/13 - 11:24 am

Confirmed flu cases (l) and rates of ER visits for flu-like symptoms. Source: BPHC.Confirmed flu cases (l) and rates of ER visits for flu-like symptoms. Source: BPHC.

City statistics for the week ending Jan. 5 show Roxbury and Hyde Park had the highest percentage of emergency-room visits due to flu-like symptoms while Charlestown had the highest per-capita number of confirmed flu cases. The latest Boston Public Health Commission flu report shows a total of 750 confirmed flu cases city wide for this flu season - 231 of them since Dec. 31. Most are Influenza A with a small number of Influenza B cases.

On Wednesday, Mayor Menino declared a public-health emergency in part because health-care facilities are now at or near capacity. One out of four of the confirmed cases have been among people who had to be hospitalized; four people have died.

Neighborhood health centers are running free flu-shot clinics for Boston residents this weekend and next week.

By adamg - 1/10/13 - 1:48 pm

The city plans to ring the phones - more than half belonging to senior citizens - following yesterday's declaration of a public-health emergency. A transcript:

Hi. This is Dr. Anita Barry calling from the Boston Public Health Commission. Yesterday, Mayor Menino declared a public health emergency because of the high number of influenza cases in the City of Boston.

Residents who have not already been vaccinated against influenza this year are urged to get vaccinated by calling their doctor, or visiting a nearby community health center during a free vaccination clinic.

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