Flu Season Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Health Experts Advise Vaccination Ahead Of Respiratory Illness Season

As respiratory illness season ramps up, health experts are encouraging West Virginians to promote health and safety in their communities.

West Virginia University (WVU) health experts are encouraging everyone to practice prevention through vaccination as flu and RSV illness season approaches.

Cases of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus or RSV are common, especially in the fall and winter.

In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the 2023-24 updated Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S.

According to experts like Dr. Gretchen Garofoli, a clinical associate professor at the WVU School of Pharmacy, this new vaccine targets the most common variants of COVID-19 currently circulating.

“It’s important to get those vaccines to prevent those types of diseases, or at least to help us get a milder case if we happen to get sick with them,” Garolfoli said. “That [vaccination] is one of the big things that I’d recommend, but also doing things such as washing our hands, staying away from people when we’re sick, trying not to infect those who are elderly, or who may have compromised immune systems, so really doing our part to try and stop the spread of disease while also keeping ourselves and our families and friends healthy.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics is predicting a similar respiratory illness season compared to last year, with a possibility of more widespread illness and health care system strain.

Individuals ages six months and older are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. West Virginians are encouraged to use the free, online WV COVID-19 Vaccination Due Date Calculator to determine when they are eligible and due for any COVID-19 shot.

This year, a new preventative medication against Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV) is available for infants.

“For the babies, that’s a little bit different. It’s what we call a monoclonal antibody, so not technically a vaccine, but that helps to offer protection to those littlest folks who tend to have problems when they get RSV at such a young age,” Garolfoli said.

The FDA also approved the use of the first RSV vaccine for people 60 years and older and individuals who are pregnant. According to Garolfoli, vaccine protection is passed on to infants when a pregnant individual becomes vaccinated. The vaccine also protects older adults who are at high risk for severe disease caused by RSV, including life-threatening pneumonia and bronchiolitis.

Finally, an annual flu vaccine is recommended for everyone six months and older, with rare exceptions, and it is particularly important for individuals with conditions that could put them at higher risk for serious complications.

“A lot of people are hesitant with regards to vaccines, and I say that each and every person I talked to has a different reason for being hesitant,” Garolfoli said. “So it’s important for us as health care practitioners, to sit down and really listen to our patients, listen to their concerns, and then be able to address them on an individual basis.”

The CDC estimates during the 2022 to 2023 flu season, there were up to 50 million illnesses, 670,000 hospitalizations and more than 17,000 deaths attributed to flu.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Officials Call For Vigilance Against Respiratory Illness

Sherri Young, the interim secretary of the DHHR, and incoming secretary for the new Department of Health, spoke with Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

As fall arrives, COVID-19 numbers are starting to increase. Just this week, the state Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) released the latest numbers for COVID-related deaths, and they indicated 15 more people had died in just the last week.

Sherri Young, the interim secretary of the DHHR, and incoming secretary for the new Department of Health, spoke with Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Rice: Tell me about the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic and what the public needs to know.

Young: So one thing that the public needs to be aware of is that we have gotten to the point where we can manage and live with COVID. But there’s some things that we can do to keep ourselves safe. And with keeping yourself safe, that means that if we feel sick, or we feel like we have a cold, let’s test, let’s make sure that that’s not the case. If you do test positive, you don’t have to report it, but you should take the proper mitigations to make sure that you reduce the risk of spreading it to other people. And that means staying home and staying away from others for five days, until you’re asymptomatic. And then if you return to work for the next five days for the 10-day total, that you’d wear a mask and just be respectful of your co-workers and people in the general public.

Rice: The FDA and CDC have approved a new COVID-19 vaccine to target variants of the virus. Is that vaccine available in West Virginia?

Young: Yes. So as soon as the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) made their recommendation last week, for those over the age of six months to get that shot, they started shipping out from the warehouses into our pharmacies and into our local health departments. So we’d recommend maybe calling just ahead of time just to make sure that they do have the availability, but most of those have already been shipped. So the availability for that updated vaccine is right in our back door. It’s a great opportunity. And while you’re there, you may want to think about that flu shot as well.

Rice: The new vaccine is recommended for West Virginians ages six months and older, but who will be able to get the shot?

Young: So the difference now is that when we first had vaccines, back in the height of the pandemic, we were giving them out about as fast as we could, and trying to keep up with demand. So the priority had to be around those who had illnesses, those who are older and more vulnerable. And then the recommendations came for the younger folks. The great thing now is that we have the availability for most anybody who wants to get that COVID vaccine. But we still need to make it a priority and educate ourselves on the fact that those who have immune disorders or may be on medications that make their immune system weaker, they do need to make it themselves a priority to get those vaccines because that’s going to help them stave off and hopefully help them from getting COVID. And if not, so then at least having a less severe case due to their medical illnesses.

Rice: What can you tell me about long COVID? Will this new vaccine protect against it?

Young: At different times throughout the pandemic, we’ve identified people who just did not get better from the initial stages, and that can be respiratory illnesses, fatigue, a plethora of things, anything from the loss of smell, and taste that people experience some of the minor symptoms, as well as some very major symptoms are lingering, and people who’ve had COVID, the research that we do have available is that it is much less likely to develop long COVID if you’ve had the vaccine, and that’s because your body has a better ability and can recognize that virus faster because you’ve had the vaccine. It gets your immune system ready to say, ‘Hey, this is a potential threat to us.’ And it helps you mount that defense for your body against COVID.

Rice: Can you speak to the recent increase in infections and hospitalizations we’ve seen attributed to COVID-19?

Young: As we are going into the winter months, we started seeing an uptick around late August, early September, which is when kids go back to school, that’s also when we start to see other respiratory illnesses. So, in some ways, COVID is starting to behave like other respiratory illnesses that we see. When we first were introduced to COVID, there was a different pattern that we were seeing with it. This gives us the ability to have some time to perfect the vaccination updates and make sure that they’re appropriate for what we are seeing at the time. And for right now, the strains that we are seeing are the ones that are present in the vaccines. So we do see an uptick, we’ve seen an uptick of about 3.2 percent in the emergency room visits as well, due to COVID. The way that we monitor it is a little bit different because people do have home tests and other things that don’t get reported the same way.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Health Officials Prepare For Autumn Vaccinations

Ahead of this year’s viral respiratory season, health officials advise checking with your physician for vaccination recommendations.

Many recent developments in COVID-19 vaccines and RSV medication have left consumers feeling confused.

A new COVID-19 vaccine is due out in mid-September to address the variant EG.5 which is now the most common form of COVID-19 in the nation. It’s on the upswing in West Virginia.

The FDA recently approved the use of an RSV vaccine for adults and a separate monoclonal antibody, or preventative medication, for infants.

Many are left wondering which shot to get when, and in which order.

Dr. Michael Kilkenny, the CEO and health officer for the Cabell-Huntington Health Department, said he empathizes with the general public’s vaccine confusion.

“Certainly we’re excited to have the additional tools of new RSV treatment and or prevention in the form of the vaccine for adults, but also the monoclonal antibody for the infants,” Kilkenny said. “And then to have flu and COVID together again, this year.”

Dr. Lisa Costello is an assistant professor in pediatrics at WVU. She recommended checking with a physician about your vaccination status and to plan ahead.

“It’s going to be different than when it comes to COVID shots than it was in the past,” Costello said. “I think it’s going to be important to check with your healthcare provider, your local health department, your local pharmacy to see what they carry and to plan.”

Dr. Kathryn Moffett, a pediatric infectious disease specialist with WVU said physicians and experts track influenza season around the world, annually to gain insight on each year’s strain.

“Influenza, we’ve heard around the world, that in the Southern Hemisphere, South America and Australia that this year has been a particularly bad flu year,” Moffett said. “So if that predicts at all, what we’re going to have, watch out. We often look to see what’s happening in the rest of the world, and also what strains are circulating. And then our flu vaccine that we use is based on what is predicted, may come here based on what’s circulating in the rest of the world.”

This will be the first time the federal government is not buying all the COVID-19 vaccines and distributing them for free. A federal program to provide free shots to uninsured people at pharmacies probably won’t launch until mid-October, according to the CDC.

Doctor’s offices and other vaccine administrators will be responsible for securing vaccines and hoping there is enough demand to be reimbursed, even for insured individuals.

Kilkenny said the Cabell-Huntington Health Department will work to deliver vaccines to all who need them.

“What we understand at the health department is that it’s very important for people to be able to get their vaccines regardless of their ability to pay for them, and so we’re going to be certainly advocating for availability for people who can’t otherwise afford them,” Kilkenny said. “We’ll be looking to try to serve as many proposals as possible. Because we believe that everyone’s valuable, and everyone should get the same recommendations, and then they should have the same access.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

COVID-19 Numbers Rising, New Variant, New Vaccine

Dr. Clay Marsh said a new vaccine due out in mid-September will prove extremely helpful in COVID-19 protection.

West Virginia University Chief Health Officer Dr. Clay Marsh said that the variant EG.5 is now the most common form of COVID-19 in the nation and on the upswing in West Virginia. In a Wednesday media briefing with Gov. Jim Justice, Marsh said the variant is not more severe, but more evasive to the immune system.

“It is able to trick the immune system for people even who’ve had vaccines in the past,” Marsh said. “Even those who’ve had COVID in the past. So we are seeing an upswing in the number of people that are being infected.”

Marsh said a new vaccine due out in mid-September will prove extremely helpful in COVID-19 protection.

“It really does appear that this new vaccine will be very, very effective, and give us more protection against this new variant,” he said.

Marsh said people over 65 should be more careful now along with people that have illnesses or genetic conditions that make them immunosuppressed.

“In other words, people taking chemotherapy right now for cancer or taking drugs to influence immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn’s disease or inflammatory bowel disease,” Marsh said. “Those medications that are being used can suppress your immune system.”

Marsh suggested early fall will be a good time for everyone to get their flu, COVID-19 and a new RSV vaccine, protecting against the respiratory syncytial virus.

“The RSV vaccine is particularly important for children and older West Virginia citizens,” he said. “RSV can give people a pretty severe illness who are really young, or or that are older, and the flu vaccine is good for all of us,18 and over.”

Marsh said the flu vaccine, the RSV vaccine, and the COVID-19 vaccine all should be taken around the same time period, in the September-October timeframe.

State Officials Warn Of Post-Holiday COVID-19 Surge

While reports of COVID fatalities have slowed down over the holidays, state officials are asking the public to prepare for a surge and report any illness to their physicians.

Despite the encouraging news that no new COVID-19 fatalities have been reported in the last 11 days, state officials are asking the public to prepare for a surge and report any illness to their physicians.

In a press briefing Tuesday, Gov. Jim Justice, Interim Head of the DHHR Jeff Coben and Ret. Gen. James Hoyer encouraged the public to stay vigilant as fear of a post-holiday surge in cases mounts.

“I also remind you about getting your flu shot, you know, whether it be this RSV or flu or COVID,” Justice said. “There’s three things going around and pretty nasty stuff, and everything, but protect yourself as best you possibly can. We all know that wintertime is with us.”

Hoyer pointed out a vulnerable age group shown in new data from West Virginia University (WVU).

“As we continue to manage COVID and stay in this study phase, what we see is that the bulk of our hospitalizations tend to be people aged 65 and above as we pointed out, as well as with the fatalities, but what we see in the surge periods is a greater increase in hospitalizations of people in the age group 50 to 59,” Hoyer said.

State officials asked the public to stay up to date on their vaccinations, and to not depend solely on at-home tests and report any illness or positive test to their physician.

“The good news is that the numbers right now are manageable,” Hoyer said. “But as pointed out, we can continue to get people to take those vaccinations, whether it’s a flu vaccine, the COVID vaccine. Those will help us blunt those particular surges and allow us to manage our way through this more effectively.”

Seeking Alternatives In An Amoxicillin Shortage

While obtaining an antibiotic prescription for their children, parents have noticed increased difficulty in filling those prescriptions at their pharmacies.

As temperatures drop and the rate of respiratory infections increase, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns of a months-long antibiotic shortage.

The most obvious shortage is that of Amoxicillin, a common antibiotic doctors use to treat a variety of infections, including ear infections, strep throat, and pneumonia.

Physicians are advising parents to talk to their family’s pharmacist as well as the health care provider who prescribed the medication because there are other alternatives that can be used to fight certain bacterial infections.

Colds, flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19 are all respiratory viruses that cannot be treated with antibiotics. However, illnesses that are treated with Amoxicillin, such as ear infections, bacterial pneumonia and sinus infections can happen after a surge of respiratory viral infections.