Re: CDC new recommendations for influenza

On 1/16/2025 2:59 PM, RonO wrote:

https://www.cdc.gov/han/2025/han00520.html
 The CDC is finally doing what I claimed that they should have done when the Canadian and Louisiana patient was confirmed to have been infected with H5N1 genotype D1.1, and both had the mutations needed to better infect humans occur in those two infections.
 QUOTE:
Recommendations for Clinicians
 When collecting a thorough exposure history from a patient with suspected or confirmed influenza who is hospitalized, ask about potential exposure to wild and domestic animals, including pets (e.g., cats), and animal products (e.g., poultry, dairy cows, raw cow milk and raw cow milk products, raw meat-based pet food), or recent close contact with a symptomatic person with a probable or confirmed case of A(H5).
 Implement appropriate infection control measures when influenza is suspected.
 If avian influenza A(H5) virus infection is suspected, probable, or confirmed in a hospitalized patient, place the patient in an airborne infection isolation room with negative pressure with implementation by caregivers of standard, contact, and airborne precautions with eye protection (goggles or face shield).
END QUOTE:
 This should be emphasized in bold print because the first two cases of D1.1 infection probably had produced the next pandemic virus, and it is obviously lethal since the Louisiana patient died and the Canadian was could not breath on their own at one point, and was in critical condition.  The CDC needs to specifically state why these containment measures need to be in place.  The patients infected by D1.1 are producing the next pandemic virus.  The needed mutations seem to be selected for during the infection.
 They do not want this virus to spread from the infected patients.
 The D1.1 genotype should be treated in a totally different way than they have not been doing for the Dairy virus (genotype B3.13).  Not differentiating the virus is stupid and should not be done at this time.
 For D1.1 they need to do more than just test the patients as soon as possible.  They need to start trying to prevent the infection of these patients.  D1.1 is coming from wild birds.  The people most likely to be infected have contact with poultry exposed to wild birds like free range commercial farms, and backyard pet poultry. The USDA and CDC need to determine where the D1.1 genotype exists in the wild, and warn people with bird contact.  They need to tell them exactly what to do if they think their birds are getting sick.  The USDA will likely send people in Hazmat suits to test the birds because they do not want to be infected.
 They probably have to warn cat and dog owners to monitor their pets, and at the first sign of influenza they need to get them tested.  Cats and dogs can likely be infected due to dead birds that they may have contact with.
 That this is not being done is crazy.  Trying to make excuses for their near total lack of any attempt to do the right thing for the dairy epidemic is something that should never be done.  They screwed up, but now they have a much worse threat to deal with, and not doing what should be done could result in what they should have been trying to prevent since the first human got infected by the dairy virus.  The dairy virus has had very mild symptoms in humans, but the D1.1 genotype is lethal.
 Ron Okimoto
 

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-urges-faster-testing-find-human-bird-flu-cases-rcna187870
QUOTE:
The latest CDC alert says testing for bird flu should move more quickly, ideally within 24 hours of a person’s hospital admission.
“The system right now tells us what has already happened. What we need is to shift to a system that tells us what’s happening in the moment,” Shah said.
END QUOTE:
Isn't this a laugh?  The CDC claiming that others have to move more quickly on testing is such a lame excuse for their own lack of doing anything, that why would anyone take them seriously?  The CDC claimed that they were going to increase testing of dairy workers 2 months ago, and nothing has happened.
The CDC isn't even warning the public as to why we need to know who is infected more rapidly than the lethargic efforts of the past.
The CDC should spell out reality, and stop suppressing what is going on.   They should tell the public why we really need more rapid testing. Waffling about needing to track the infection is stupid.  The real reason is containment.  The faster we know who is infected with the D1.1 genotype the faster we can isolate that person and keep other people from being infected.  The CDC should already have a D1.1 rapid PCR test up and running at full speed.  They should have already tested the D1.1 virus against the current H5N1 vaccine that they stock piled.  The first two infections were candidates for patient zero of the next pandemic, and we can't let future infections become patient zero.  No one wants the next pandemic to be a virus as lethal as genotype D1.1.  Pretending that the D1.1 genotype is the same as the dairy virus is criminal. Really, my guess is that whoever made the decision to go this route of misinformation is likely going to be prosecuted for it if things go South and the next pandemic starts.
They need to get the infected into negative pressure containment rooms as fast as they can, and minimize the chance of others getting infected.   The CDC admitted this in the most recent advice that I had put up earlier today.  They should stop lying about why they are giving that advice.  D1.1 seems to be a respiratory infection in humans, and the mutations needed to better infect humans have occurred in the first two infections.  It is mind boggling that they are suppressing the information that people need in order to understand why they need to treat these infections as efficiently as they can.
Ron Okimoto