Influenza cases and deaths in the United States and worldwide dropped to unprecedented lows between October 3, 2020, and July 24, 2021, according to CDC data. In a typical season, 75 to 150 children die of influenza in the United States, noted pediatric infectious disease specialist Paul Offit, MD, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, in a recent JAMA Network article. Last influenza season, he said, one child was reported to have died.

A new study published in PLoS One suggests that the influenza vaccine may help safeguard individuals against COVID-19.

In a new analysis, CDC said there was a large decline in essential childhood vaccinations in the early months of the pandemic last year, but rates did not return to pre-pandemic levels with the lifting of the stay-at-home orders.

In the United States, 77% of all UTIs and 79% of all community acquired pneumonias (CAP) are treated inappropriately in the hospital setting, according to an expert panel convened by the Pew Charitable Trust in 2018 to evaluate antibiotic use in hospitals. The panel’s findings, which were published in a March 18, 2021, report, revealed that fluoroquinolones were used inappropriately 47% of the time, and vancomycin was used inappropriately 27% of the time.