{"id":3144,"date":"2021-09-28T11:18:55","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T15:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medent.com\/news\/?p=3144"},"modified":"2021-09-28T11:29:23","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T15:29:23","slug":"flu-season-is-coming-is-your-practice-ready","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medent.com\/connect\/2021\/09\/28\/flu-season-is-coming-is-your-practice-ready\/","title":{"rendered":"Flu Season Is Coming. Is Your Practice Ready?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Flu Season Is Coming. Is Your Practice Ready?<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Click the image to view the original blog post.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As we continue to look for silver linings from the yearlong-plus pandemic, there\u2019s one that stands out:\u00a0Seasonal influenza infections all but disappeared.<\/strong>\u00a0This was thanks in large part to all the new behaviors we were forced to adopt to stop the spread of COVID-19: staying home, social distancing, wearing masks, and increased hand-washing.<\/span><\/p>

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were only 2,038 flu cases during the season (Sept. 27, 2020 to April 24, 2021),<\/strong>\u00a0compared with an estimated 38 million cases during the 2019\u201320 season. The hospitalization rate for the 2020\u201321 U.S. flu season was just 0.7 per 100,000 people\u2014the lowest since the agency started tracking flu data back in 2005. And there\u2019s one more piece of significant news: During last year\u2019s flu season, there was just a single pediatric flu death, compared with 196 during the 2019\u201320 flu season.<\/span><\/p>

\u201cPrior to last year, influenza in the United States was responsible for more pediatric deaths than any other vaccine-preventable disease\u201d<\/span>\u00a0says Joseph Bocchini, MD, FAAP, Director of the Willis-Knighton Health System Children\u2019s Services and the Department of Pediatrics at Tulane University. Most of the children who died had no underlying condition known to increase the risk of complications of influenza, and most were unvaccinated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

But don\u2019t get too comfy.\u00a0Experts say the respite from influenza cases we experienced last year could actually mean stormier weather for the coming 2021\u201322 flu season.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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An Especially Unpredictable Flu Season<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The first reason: Infection numbers were so low last year, scientists don\u2019t have enough applicable data to predict what flu strains will be predominant this year.<\/strong>\u00a0Without this valuable data, researchers will have a harder time creating effective vaccines for this year\u2019s flu.<\/span><\/p>

When they met to discuss the upcoming season, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended vaccine manufacturers create a flu vaccine similar to last season\u2019s, specifically keeping two B strains (representing the dominant strain in most of the globe) and changing out two A strains of the quadrivalent vaccine for the upcoming season. Here\u2019s why: fewer flu infections last year means there were fewer virus specimens for researchers to use to create the upcoming year\u2019s vaccines. But from this smaller pool, they saw continued efficacy from last year\u2019s B strains; less so with the A strains. So for this year, they updated the A strains while leaving B strains basically untouched.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Danger of \"Pandemic Fatigue\" <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The second reason this upcoming flu season could be worse is complacency due to \u201cpandemic fatigue.\u201d After the 1918 flu pandemic, people came out in full force to gather, mingle, hug, and kiss, leading to what became known as \u201cthe roaring \u201820s.\u201d As our own pandemic restrictions start lifting, we\u2019re likely to experience something similar and create a scenario where the influenza virus can thrive.\u00a0As we decrease mitigation strategies to control COVID-19, children will again be at risk for influenza in school (where many community flu outbreaks begin) and if infected, will bring the virus home to their parents.<\/strong>\u00a0Many adults have underlying conditions which can worsen influenza infections and lead to complications and deaths. (The vast majority of influenza deaths are adults.)<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0\u201cWe know social distancing stops flu, but we also know when you stop social distancing, the flu will come back,\u201d says Litjen Tan, Ph.D., chief strategy officer for the\u00a0Immunization Action Coalition<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cOur job as people working in public health is to remind people to not get complacent; the \u2018twindemic\u2019 risk we were so worried about last year at this time has not gone away.\u00a0Don\u2019t think because there was no flu last year, there will be no flu this year.<\/strong>\u00a0Flu always teaches us a lesson when we do that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"The 'twindemic' risk we were so worried about this time last year has not gone away.\"<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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- L.J Tan, Chief Strategy Officer<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Immunization Action Coalition<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Tan says a priority for his agency is helping to make sure that manufacturers bring enough vaccine doses to market this year. \u201cBecause there were so few cases last year, we have to reassure manufacturers that we will get these vaccines out to patients,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd we have to make sure physicians are spreading the word to their patients so we keep people protected and don\u2019t waste valuable vaccine resources.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

There\u2019s also an effort to make this year\u2019s flu season an opportunity for double duty, making sure anyone who comes in to get a COVID-19 vaccination also gets the flu shot (and vice versa).<\/strong>\u00a0Now that the\u00a0CDC says<\/a><\/span>\u00a0that the two vaccines can be given at the same time, there is no need to wait two weeks between.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Applying Lessons Learned<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Tan also encourages physicians to\u00a0take advantage of the lessons we\u2019ve learned from the COVID-19 vaccination distribution to create more opportunities for their patients to get vaccinated against the flu this year.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWe had a massive rollout effort with the COVID-19 vaccine, so why not do something smaller in your healthcare system, like\u00a0setting up a mobile flu clinic in your parking lot,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0he says. \u201cThe idea is to keep awareness of the flu high in people\u2019s minds so we can get more people vaccinated than ever. Providers are\u00a0so<\/i>\u00a0important to this effort, especially to fight \u2018pandemic fatigue.\u2019 When a provider tells a patient, \u2018OK, we\u2019ve got you covered for COVID-19; you\u2019re also due for flu,\u2019 the patient usually goes ahead and gets it done. So having providers help get patients back into the system and making sure getting the flu vaccine is a priority for them, will be a huge help.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"It is best to begin immunizing adults and children in September\u2026[and] continue throughout the influenza season\u2026as different types of influenza virus may come into a community through April or May.\"<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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- Joseph Bocchini, MD, FAAP<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Director of the Willis-Knighton Health System Children\u2019s Services and the Department of Pediatrics at Tulane University<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Dr. Bocchini notes that\u00a0it is important to have your patients vaccinated before the influenza season begins.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cIt is best to begin immunizing adults and children in September and plan your office immunization program to have everyone immunized by the end of October. However, vaccination should continue throughout the influenza season for persons not already immunized, as different types of influenza virus may come into a community through April or May.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Administration Fees Remain Inadequate<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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From a cost perspective, this year continues the unwelcome trend of\u00a0lower vaccine administration fees for practices who care for Medicare patients.<\/strong>\u00a0Here\u2019s a bit of history on the rollercoaster ride of admin fees: In the early 2000s, Medicare paid physicians between $2 and $3 per administered dose of flu vaccine, depending on the state. The immunization community rallied to raise it, and in 2006,\u00a0Medicare brought the fee up to the low-to-mid $20s.<\/strong>\u00a0Rates hovered there for about a decade, but then in 2017, Medicare altered the physician fee schedule, and vaccine administration fees plummeted. Today, the national average is about $17 per administered dose.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"Medicare\u2019s flu vaccine administration fees remain below 2006 levels.\"<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Tan\u2019s agency has been on the frontlines, fighting to keep these fees from sinking any lower\u2014and to get them back to the 2006 rates. \u201cIf these rates drop any lower, providers will start saying. \u2018It\u2019s not worth it; it costs too much money,<\/strong>\u2019\u201d Tan says, noting that it\u2019s a hard battle, but \u201cit\u2019s something we\u2019re going to keep working on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

According to Tan, providers can play a role in this effort, too. If you\u2019re part of a medical association, you can work with it to help make sure the pay rates don\u2019t dwindle. You can also team up with the\u00a0Adult Vaccine Access Coalition<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0an organization that\u2019s doing plenty of work on this issue. \u201cThe more voices we have, the better,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p><\/div>

\u00a0<\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flu Season Is Coming. Is Your Practice Ready? Click the image to view the original blog post. As we continue to look for silver linings from the yearlong-plus pandemic, there\u2019s one that stands out:\u00a0Seasonal influenza infections all but disappeared.\u00a0This was thanks in large part to all the new behaviors we were forced to adopt to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-post"],"yoast_head":"\nFlu Season Is Coming. 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As we continue to look for silver linings from the yearlong-plus pandemic, there\u2019s one that stands out:\u00a0Seasonal influenza infections all but disappeared.\u00a0This was thanks in large part to all the new behaviors we were forced to adopt to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/medent.com\/connect\/2021\/09\/28\/flu-season-is-coming-is-your-practice-ready\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"medent\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-28T15:18:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-28T15:29:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/medent.com\/connect\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/2021_FluSeason_1131x636.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1132\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"637\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Megan Chapman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/medent.com\\\/connect\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/28\\\/flu-season-is-coming-is-your-practice-ready\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/medent.com\\\/connect\\\/2021\\\/09\\\/28\\\/flu-season-is-coming-is-your-practice-ready\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Megan Chapman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/medent.com\\\/connect\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1f7c7c969dd98a6b5aeeb355e0c408f0\"},\"headline\":\"Flu Season Is Coming. 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A former producer for NBC, TODAY, and MSNBC, she brings award-winning journalism experience to storytelling in healthcare technology, EHR software, and practice management. Megan has been with medent since 2018 and is passionate about helping clients simplify and understand EHR workflows so their practices can thrive.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/medent.com\\\/connect\\\/author\\\/meganc\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Flu Season Is Coming. Is Your Practice Ready? | medent","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/medent.com\/connect\/2021\/09\/28\/flu-season-is-coming-is-your-practice-ready\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Flu Season Is Coming. Is Your Practice Ready? | medent","og_description":"Flu Season Is Coming. Is Your Practice Ready? 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