The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a new way for Americans to find out how high or low their levels of the virus are. COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) and influenza I will be local in 2024.
New this year “Community Snapshot” This is CDC’s latest attempt to repackage data into one place so Americans can decide when to get additional data. prevention recommended in it guidelinesmasking and testwe are entering autumn and winter.
It centers around a comprehensive new weekly indicator called ‘acute respiratory illness’. The index’s debut is aimed at measuring the risk of COVID-19 infection, along with other airborne germs, on a single scale from “minimal” to “very high,” according to officials. It’s an accomplishment of a goal I set a few months ago.
“The biggest thing we’re trying to do here is simply dashboard. It’s not like just putting a ton of information in front of people and expecting them to navigate through it all,” CDC Director Matthew Ritchie told CBS News.
Ritchie, who co-leads the team that coordinates the data entered into Snapshot, said the CDC brings together experts from across the agency every Thursday to review that week’s data from hospitals and emergency rooms. He said there was. wastewater sampling And the testing laboratory.
“All these groups come together and through their different data systems and expertise, they say, ‘This is what I see.’ And that’s what we want to put forward to the public.” he said.
Ritchie cited early signs: RS virusor RSV, is starting to increase as expected this season in Florida, as noted at the beginning of this week’s report.
What’s behind the CDC’s new ‘respiratory illness’ indicator
Based on emergency room data, “acute respiratory illness” metricgrades each state or county’s overall infection from “minimal” to “very high.”
This is broadly defined to include a variety of airborne illnesses such as COVID-19 and influenza, as well as whooping cough and pneumonia.
The previous definition, which the agency relied on, “Flu-like illness” Ritchie said requirements such as fever were too narrow and excluded many patients.
A set of separate standalone levels will continue to be calculated weekly. COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection)influenza, respiratory syncytial virus.
The formula behind these levels is based on historical peaks and troughs in emergency care trends analyzed from each state.
“We looked back over the past few years and figured out the lowest point this year based on lab testing. At that point, we say that’s the baseline or ‘minimal’ category,” Ritchie said. said.
How to find out which new coronavirus variants are predominant
Not all of the CDC’s data met the cutoff to be included in the first layer of the agency’s new snapshot.
For example, the public home page mentions current SARS-CoV-2 variants; Like XECdetails about its prevalence remain for another article. web page Learn more on the CDC website.
“A jumble of acronyms and letters doesn’t really resonate with them,” he says.
On influenza, the CDC continues to issue more detailed weekly updates designed for experts. “FluView” report.
These include a weekly breakdown of ‘types’ (influenza A or B) and ‘subtypes’ (such as H3N2 and H1N1) reported to authorities by laboratories.
Health officials are also closely monitoring trends in influenza subtypes because they may help explain changes in influenza subtypes. severity Not just viruses Vaccine effectiveness.
Future changes
This snapshot is ongoing as the CDC gathers feedback from the public and local health departments.
“People, from public health workers to my parents, continually provide feedback on how they are using the service. ‘I’m using this to let them know how to do it.’ Talk to your elderly parents,” he said.
One of the big changes coming later this season is the reopening of national hospitalization data. pandemic era The requirement for hospitals to report numbers to the federal government has expired.
new rule The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ resumption of data collection for COVID-19, influenza, and RSV is scheduled to take effect in November.
“Once we start receiving that data again and it’s at a robust enough level, we plan to incorporate that into the site as well,” he said.
Another long-term goal is to add information specific to causes of respiratory illness other than COVID-19, influenza, and RSV.
“We want to be able to talk about other things outside of the big three. mycoplasma Others are known to peak at certain times of the season,” he said.
