Amid months of divestment in federal public health agencies, the CDC has 60% fewer flu samples from other countries than it did in 2024, which could hamper development of an effective flu shot next year, NPR reported Nov. 7.
Usually, the CDC receives thousands of samples from flu patients around the globe to better understand how the virus has evolved and how to counteract it. This year, the CDC had only 427 samples between February and July, 60% fewer than last year. Additionally, 12 countries had sent samples during those months, or about 65% fewer than 2024.
Demetre Daskalakis, MD, former director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, shared this data with NPR. Dr. Daskalakis resigned in August after Susan Monarez, PhD, was abruptly fired from her role as CDC director.
The World Health Organization typically pays for these flu sample shipments, but after President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 signaled a plan for the U.S. to leave the WHO, the global organization’s budget shrank by about $1 billion, and its means to fund these shipments with it. The exit date is set for Jan. 22.
“When those viruses are not coming in, we don’t know what to put in the vaccine, and you’re going to have less effective vaccines,” Daniel Jernigan, MD, who also resigned from the CDC in August, told NPR.
Layoffs at the CDC and the government shutdown could further muddy the nation’s visibility into respiratory virus activity this season, experts have warned.
Three things to know:
1. Flu vaccination rates are projected to decrease 12% in the U.S. this season, according to information from CSL Ltd., a major flu shot producer. Among adults 65 and older, inoculation rates are expected to drop 14%.
2. As of Oct. 25, the proportion of emergency department visits for respiratory syncytial virus is low but rising, according to New Haven, Conn.-based Yale University’s respiratory diseases tracker. As several states report less than 0.1% of ED visits are RSV-related, health systems with Epic EHR have seen their collective average increase from 0.03% in late September to about 1% a month later.
3. Influenza-related ED visits have remained low, accounting for about 0.1% of ED visits in Epic facilities. And for COVID-19, the most recent peak was 1.6% of ED visits as of Sept. 6 before dropping to 0.3% in late October.
