CDC Advises Expedited Influenza Subtyping in Hospitalized Patients to Help Identify Bird Flu
Expect a Surge in H5N1 Cases with More Testing
By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
We are coming around to conclude that H5N1 avian influenza or “bird flu” may not be as mild as what we had seen over the last four years since the outbreak began in 2021.
Anna Bock, writer for JAMA reports:
About a week after the first human death linked to the highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus, or H5N1 bird flu, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health advisory recommending expedited subtyping of all specimens positive for influenza A in hospitalized patients—especially those in an intensive care unit (ICU).
It is possible that some of the severe seasonal influenza cases hospitalized could have indeed had influenza A H5N1 influenza, particularly the D1.1 variant. Doctors and hospitals should note exposure to farms, birds, cattle and other vectors when evaluating a patient for influenza. Home flu tests will probably drive the case count further.
The CDC also advises:
The guidance also includes deploying appropriate infection control measures, such as placement in an isolation room, and prompt subtype testing. Clinicians should start any hospitalized patient, particularly those in the ICU, on antiviral treatment with oseltamivir—even if influenza test results are pending—or a combination antiviral treatment when H5N1 infection is detected.
Commercial testing for H5N1 by PCR has come very late to the clinical community. While the Thermo Fisher Vet Max veterinary PCR test has been used since 2014, the LabCorp assay represents a shift in focus to humans. As traditional biosecurity measures continue to fail and more virgin flocks are infected, we can expect to see the animal and human case count continue to mount. This would only go down with natural immunity which is not being allowed in large facilities following USDA biosecurity guidance.
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Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
President, McCullough Foundation
www.mcculloughfnd.org
I don’t get it. During covid, the CDC proved themselves to be an information source that was corrupted and political. The same conclusion was made against the FDA. Labcorp was a proponent of PCR, remdesivir and other ‘questionable’ treatments: https://www.labcorp.com/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/individuals/covid-19-treatment-options
However, we are now meant to trust their information and follow it. ?????
Just wait, influenza A or B cases will just about disappear and everything will be diagnosed as “bird flu,” just like what happened in the first years of COVID when flu diagnoses disappeared and were replaced by COVID. Hospitals will be incentivized to call all flu cases and deaths “bird flu” even if a person dies from decapitation, if he tested positive for bird flu, his death will be classified as a bird flu death. This ain’t our first rodeo.