flu

The at-home nasal swab kit simultaneously tests for COVID-19 and two strains of the flu.

Kids seem to be catching everything and getting sicker as the pandemic enters its third winter, leaving physicians and researchers to figure out what's going on.

They argue the threat posed by COVID has lessened because of preexisting immunity and access to treatment. Plus, some deaths may be incorrectly blamed on COVID. Others caution it's too soon to tell.

A mild flu season last year means fewer folks are immune to strains starting to circulate now. Scientists predict 100,000 to 400,000 extra U.S. hospitalizations with the deadly flu virus this year.

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Stat News' Helen Branswell about how pandemic precautions like masking may have eliminated certain strains of the flu, which could mean flu shots will be easier to make.

There have been just 165 flu-related hospitalizations since October. Infectious disease specialist Dr. William Schaffner says virtual schooling has kept kids from spreading the flu so readily.

The worst time of the year for viruses is at our doorstep. During the winter there are surges in adenoviruses, respiratory syncytial viruses — more…

"We had no ICUs at that time. We had no antivirals, had no vaccines for flu. We had no idea that the flu was even a virus at that time," one scholar said. But social distancing helped then too.

The president says 50,000 could die from the flu. So far this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, it's at least 23,000 with an upper estimate as high as 59,000.

This flu season has turned out to be a tough one for children. There have been twice as many pediatric flu deaths so far this season than at the same time…