A large study of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients in JAMA Internal Medicine shows that, during the 2022 to 2023 season, having COVID-19 was associated with more severe disease outcomes than flu or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. Differences became less pronounced, however, during the 2023 to 2024 season.
Using current estimates of US long-COVID burden (assuming the probability of long COVID is 6% and symptoms last 1 year), cases cost an average of $2.01 billion annually. The economic burden of long COVID already surpasses that of carpal tunnel, Lyme disease, and psoriasis, the authors said, and is likely to continue to grow.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday urged labs nationwide to determine within 24 hours of admission whether people hospitalized with the flu have seasonal influenza or are infected with the bird flu that's behind an escalating outbreak in dairy cows and poultry.
The guidance for labs to do this type of testing has been in place since last fall, but the process has been slow, with many hospitals sending flu samples out for testing in bulk every few days.
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