Getting Tested For Flu Is Critical During COVID-19 Pandemic

This flu season, it may be hard to know if you are experiencing symptoms of influenza or COVID-19. That’s why we recommend that anyone who gets sick during the 2021-2022 flu season ask to be tested for both flu and COVID-19. Flu vs. COVID-19 symptoms: According to the CDC, common symptoms that flu and COVID-19…

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RSV Is Spreading – That’s Bad News for Flu Season

Respiratory syncytial virus, otherwise known as RSV, is currently spreading across the US at an unusual time. RSV is a respiratory virus that typically spreads during flu season and is so common that the CDC states that most children have a case of RSV by the time they are two. But RSV can be serious,…

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mRNA Technology Offers Hope for Flu Vaccine Advancements

The COVID-19 pandemic made vaccines a daily topic in news, popular culture, and even conversations among friends. Messenger RNA (mRNA) technology in particular was thrust in the spotlight as two COVID-19 vaccines using mRNA, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, were authorized for emergency use by the FDA. mRNA vaccines are a new approach to vaccination, but…

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Protecting Our Families Amidst Unanswered Questions

Charlotte A. Moser is the assistant director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is the co-author of Vaccines and Your Child: Separating Fact from Fiction. It has been a challenging year to be a vaccine scientist and communicator. As assistant director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia,…

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Losing Sight of Flu: A Side Effect of the Pandemic?

Serese Marotta, Chief Operating Officer for Families Fighting Flu shares thoughts on how the COVID-19 pandemic may impact flu prevention efforts moving forward.  Last spring, when fears of COVID-19 in the U.S. were spreading faster than the virus itself, I had a sense of dread. Not just because we were on the verge of a…

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FAQs: The Flu and COVID-19

There is a lot of information floating around about COVID-19 and we are all doing our best to stay informed and safe. We want to help cut through the noise and provide you with reliable information to help you and your family stay safe this year. Here are some answers to commonly asked questions on…

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What is Community Immunity?

Community immunity, sometimes called herd immunity, has been in the news lately in talks about COVID-19. There is confusion about the term and what it really means. Community immunity is the concept that an infectious disease cannot spread when enough people in a community are immune to it. For flu, the safest way to acquire…

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What Influenza Pandemics Can Teach Us About COVID-19

To flu researchers and advocates, pandemics are nothing new; most past pandemics have been caused by flu viruses. In the past 100+ years there have been four flu pandemics: 1918, 1957-58, 1968, and 2009. Here, we will outline what we have learned from past flu pandemics, specifically the 1918 pandemic, that can be applied as…

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