(NEW YORK) — Home births in the United States reached the highest level in three decades during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The report’s findings show the nationwide number of pregnant people giving birth at home rose from 1.26% in 2020 to 1.41% in 2021 — an increase of 12% and the highest level since at least 1990. That followed a 22% increase from 2019 to 2020.
The percentage peaked in January 2021 at 1.51%, according to the report.
Nevertheless, the vast majority of U.S. births still happen at a hospital or birthing center. Prior to the pandemic, the country’s rate of home births hovered around 1%.
The report noted that interest in home births increased due to COVID-19 and “concerns about giving birth in a hospital.”
The rise in U.S. home births from 2020 to 2021 was sharpest among Black women, with an increase of 21%. That followed a 36% increase from 2019 to 2020, according to the report.
For Hispanic women, home births increased 15% from 2020 to 2021, following a 30% increase from 2019 to 2020. For white women, home births increased 10% from 2020 to 2021, following a 21% increase from 2019 to 2020, according to the report.
From 2020 to 2021, the percentage of home births was on the rise in 30 U.S. states, with increases ranging from 8% for Florida to 49% for West Virginia. That followed increases in home births in 40 states from 2019 to 2020, the report said.
Medical associations like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists assert that every individual should have the right and opportunity to choose how they want to give birth. But they also say that hospitals and birthing centers are the safest places to give birth because trained professionals can intervene quickly if something goes wrong.
(NEW YORK) — A child under the age of 5 has died due to complications from flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, health officials in California confirmed on Monday.
The California Department of Public Health did not release additional details on the child or their illness, but noted this is the first pediatric death in the state due to RSV and flu this season.
The child’s death comes as cases of RSV and flu have been appearing earlier this year than usual and are on the rise across the United States.
Earlier this month, health officials in Michigan confirmed a 6-year-old died after developing complications from RSV, a contagious virus that can spread from viral respiratory droplets.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 11,000 RSV infections were diagnosed in September 2022 – which rose to over 44,000 for the month of October.
At the same time, positive tests for influenza reported to the CDC by clinical laboratories jumped from 2,083 to 7,504 in October, according to CDC data.
Though cases of RSV are on the rise, death from the virus remains rare, according to the CDC.
There are between 100 to 500 pediatric deaths and 14,000 adult deaths each year related to RSV, with the actual figure likely higher due to undercounting.
Experts told ABC News that a combination of waning immunity to COVID and lack of exposure to other viruses, combined with close gatherings indoors, is fueling a “perfect storm.”
“Mostly the issue is there’s low population immunity and kids are, once again, gathered again,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, and an ABC News contributor. “And this is facilitating rapid spread of viruses like RSV.”
On Nov. 4, the CDC issued an official health advisory in response to the rise in respiratory infections in children.
The health advisory warned that “co-circulation of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2, and others could place stress on healthcare systems this fall and winter.”
Doctors say it’s possible for people to become infected with two or more viruses at the same time. If this happens, especially in children or people with weakened immune systems, it can lead to a more severe illness.
What parents should know about RSV
RSV is a contagious virus that can spread from viral respiratory droplets transferred from an infected person’s cough or sneeze; from direct contact with the virus, like kissing the face of a child with RSV; and from touching surfaces, like tables, doorknobs and crib rails, that have the virus on them and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth before hand-washing, according to the CDC.
People infected with RSV are usually contagious for three to eight days, but some infants can continue to spread the virus even after they stop showing symptoms, for as long as four weeks, according to the CDC.
Among children, premature infants and young children with weakened immune systems or congenital heart or chronic lung disease are the most vulnerable to complications from RSV.
“Pretty much all kids have gotten RSV at least once by the time they turn 2, but it’s really younger kids, especially those under 6 months of age, who can really have trouble with RSV and sometimes end up in the hospital,” Dr. William Linam, pediatric infectious disease doctor at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, told ABC News last year. “That’s where we want to get the word out, for families with young children or children with medical conditions, making sure they’re aware this is going on.”
In the first two to four days of contracting RSV, a child may show symptoms like fever, runny nose and congestion.
Later on, the symptoms may escalate to coughing, wheezing and difficulty breathing.
Parents should also be alerted to symptoms including dehydration and not eating, according to Linam.
“Not making a wet diaper in over eight hours is often a good marker that a child is dehydrated and a good reason to seek medical care,” he said. “Sometimes kids under 6 months of age can have pauses when they’re breathing and that’s something to get medical attention for right away.”
Infants and toddlers can usually recover at home with RSV unless they start to have difficulty breathing, are not eating or drinking, or appear more tired than usual, in which case parents should contact their pediatrician and/or take their child to the emergency room.
At-home care for kids with RSV can include Tylenol and Motrin for fevers, as well as making sure the child is hydrated and eating.
According to Linam, parents can help protect their kids from RSV by continuing to follow as much as possible the three Ws of the pandemic: wear a mask, wash your hands and watch your distance.
Infants who are born prematurely (less than 29 weeks) and are less than 12 months old may benefit from a medication to prevent complications of RSV since they are at increased risk of severe disease, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Infants born prematurely with chronic lung disease may also qualify for medication. Parents should discuss this with their pediatrician.
ABC News’ Teddy Grant and Mary Kekatos contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Parents and medical providers are being called on to be careful with prescription cough medication as overdoses among children are on the rise.
Calls to poison control centers in the United States reporting the ingestion of prescription cough medicine by children rose by 158% between 2010 and 2018, according to a study published Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration.
The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that pediatric poisonings involving the drug benzonatate, sold under the brand name Tessalon, have increased each year.
Most cases of unintentional exposures involved children 5 and under, according to the study.
Benzonatate is used as a cough relief for people ages 10 and older.
The FDA says on its website that the medication’s safety and effectiveness for children under the age of 10 has not been established and that “accidental ingestion resulting in death has been reported” in children under 10.
The signs and symptoms of an overdose of benzonatate may start as soon as 15 minutes after ingestion and may include choking, tremors and restlessness, according to the FDA.
The agency said convulsions, coma and cardiac arrest leading to death have been reported within one hour of ingesting benzonatate, which comes in capsule form.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says it is especially important not to give cough medicine to children with asthma, at any age, as ingredients in suppressants can cause severe exacerbations.
Doctors recommend honey alone or with warm water or tea to help alleviate cough symptoms for children over 2 years old. But caution that this is dangerous for children less than 2 years old due to botulism risk.
The study calls on doctors and medical providers who are prescribing benzonatate to give detailed instructions on the proper administration and storage of the medication.
Parents are also being called on to keep the drug out of the reach of children.
“Accessibility to medical products at home presents a risk for unintentional ingestion in young children as oral exploration is a normal part of development in infants, and young children may be enticed to consume objects that resemble candy,” the study’s authors wrote.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has a medication safety guide for parents and caregivers on its website.
The tips include keeping medicines out of sight and out of the reach of children by storing them in their original packages in locked cabinets or containers.
Parents should never leave their children alone with medicine and should remind babysitters, grandparents and other caregivers to keep purses or jackets that may contain medicine out of the reach of kids, according to the AAP.
When giving a child any medicine, the AAP recommends doing it away from a common area of the home and following directions exactly, paying attention to the correct dosage and strength. Contact your child’s pediatrician before giving your child any new medication, or with any questions or concerns regarding medication use.
(ATLANTA) — While respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, has been surging among children in the United States, older adults are being affected as well.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that senior citizens are being hospitalized with the virus at this point in the season at a rate much higher than seen in seasons past.
As of the week ending Nov. 5, the latest date for which data is available, adults aged 65 and older are being hospitalized at a weekly rate of 1.6 per 100,000.
Although the raw number might seem small, it is much higher than usually seen at this time of year. CDC data going back to the 2014-15 season shows the rate has never been higher than 1.0 per 100,000 in early November.
“Overall, it’s very striking that we’re seeing this level of RSV than we normally see across age groups,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “While there’s a lot of focus on the pediatric impact, we know RSV affects all vulnerable groups, including the elderly population.”
“The hospitalizations numbers are greater than anything we’ve seen in the past nine seasons,” he added.
An increase in respiratory viruses, including RSV, has been flooding pediatric hospitals and causing schools to shut down to stem the spread.
Public health experts told ABC News the early rise in cases is due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last two years, children have been staying home from school, wearing masks and practicing social distancing, which has led to low RSV activity.
Now, with most pandemic measures relaxed, RSV is infecting both children who were born during the pandemic or primarily stayed home during the pandemic.
However, as more kids get exposed, so do more adults.
“Now all the children are back in school, they’re going to birthday parties, they’re playing with each other and we’re having a very early surge in RSV all over the country,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told ABC News. “They’re bringing it home and they’re giving it to grandparents, Aunt Susie, Uncle Frank and other adults who have underlying illnesses and it’s those adults who sometimes get illness severe enough to require hospitalization.”
He continued, “So the adults are part of this surge that has been described mostly in terms of its impact on children in pediatric hospitals.”
Adults with RSV typically experience the same symptoms as children including coughing, wheezing, fever, running nose, sneezing and decrease in appetite, according to the CDC.
While most cases can resolve with resting at home, drinking fluids and managing pain and fever, some adults are at higher risk of severe illness.
“First of all, advanced age, anybody over age 65, and of course, the older you are, the more likely you are to get severe illness,” Schaffner said. “Second, underlying illness, particularly of the lung, and heart. So, if you have underlying lung disease or heart disease, those are the circumstances that put you at increased risk of getting more severe RSV infection that will impair your capacity to breathe and will require hospitalization.”
There are currently no vaccines available that protect against RSV, although several are undergoing clinical trials, and some may undergo review from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In the meantime, the experts recommend following similar mitigation measures followed during the pandemic.
“It’s vaccinating against flu and COVID, it’s masking, it’s social distancing, it’s staying home when sick,” Brownstein said. “It’s the same non-pharmaceutical interventions we’ve been promoting during COVID.”
(ATLANTA) — A judge on Tuesday overturned Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, ruling that it is not constitutional.
The so-called “heartbeat bill” was signed into law in 2019 by Gov. Brian Kemp but was prevented from going into effect following legal challenges.
In July, three weeks after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion, a federal appeals court ruled the ban could go into effect.
The law prevents abortions from performed once fetal cardiac activity can be defected, which typically occurs at about six weeks’ gestation — before many women know they’re pregnant — and redefines the word “person” in Georgia to include an embryo or fetus at any stage of development.
Several groups — including the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Georgia, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective — filed a lawsuit arguing the ban violates the right to privacy without political inference protected under the Georgia Constitution.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney agreed and said it went against the law because the ban was signed before Roe was overturned.
“At that time — the spring of 2019 — everywhere in America, including Georgia, it was unequivocally unconstitutional for governments — federal, state, or local — to ban abortions before viability,” McBurney wrote, referring to the original passage of the 6-week ban.
ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett and Ben Stein contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — People who smoke marijuana were more likely to have certain types of lung damage than people who smoked cigarettes, according to a new study that reviewed lung scans of smokers. The researchers who led the study say their findings suggest smoking marijuana may be more harmful than people realize.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates at least one-fifth of Americans have tried marijuana at least once. With more states legalizing the drug, it has become the most commonly used drug that is still illegal at a federal level.
Some health effects, such as brain development issues, high blood pressure, and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, have been studied. However, according to Dr. Albert Rizzo, lung doctor and chief medical officer of the American Lung Association, “We don’t know the long-term effects of marijuana as we do for the long-term effects of tobacco.”
Researchers from Ottawa Hospital General in Canada compared approximately 150 lung scans from marijuana smokers, tobacco-only smokers and nonsmokers. The study found that rates of emphysema, airway inflammation and enlarged breast tissue were higher in marijuana than in tobacco smokers.
The scans showed that 75% of the marijuana smokers had emphysema. Slightly less than 70% of tobacco-only smokers had emphysema, while only 5% of nonsmokers had it.
Emphysema, a form of chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), is the third leading cause of death in the U.S.
“There are air sacs in your lungs that are getting bigger than they should. As they get bigger, they are less efficient than they should be for gas exchange,” Rizzo said. The condition is caused by long-term exposure to irritants such as smoke, leading to irreversible lung damage.
“Marijuana smokers had more emphysema, a disease that causes difficulty breathing, than heavy tobacco smokers and nonsmokers,” said Dr. Giselle Revah, study co-author and cardiothoracic radiologist.
Doctors say there are several reasons marijuana might cause more lung damage than tobacco.
“Marijuana smokers breathe in more deeply, and they hold their breath longer, before they exhale. You combine the irritating effect of longer exposure and deeper inhalation of these toxins,” Rizzo said.
Tobacco smoke is also filtered, but marijuana smoke is not. All of these factors contribute to inflammation and irreversible damage, doctors say.
“Anything you inhale that could irritate the lungs would not be advisable, so I would recommend they stop,” Rizzo said. However, he recognizes that some users have medical necessity — for those individuals, he recommends a discussion with your doctor, who may be able to convert you to another, safer form of the drug, such as an ingestible form.
“There is a public perception that marijuana is safe. This study signals that marijuana could be more harmful than people realize,” Revah said.
Alicia Zellmer, M.D., and Joy Liu, M.D., are resident physicians in Internal Medicine and members of the ABC News Medical Unit.
(NEW YORK) — A Washington state mother is warning about the dangers of respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, after her 7-month-old daughter was hospitalized with the illness.
Mya Walker said her daughter, Ariella Rain, was a happy, healthy baby until the end of October, when she started developing symptoms of RSV.
“She had a cough for like a day and usually she typically was coughing after she ate her bottle so I wasn’t really worried about it,” Walker told ABC News. “And then I was at work and her grandma actually took her temperature and it came back 102 F. So that’s when we took her to the emergency room.”
Ariella was taken to Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center in Vancouver on Oct. 28, where she was diagnosed with RSV.
Across the United States, cases of RSV have been appearing earlier this year than usual and are on the rise. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13,126 infections were diagnosed in September 2022 — which rose to 47,910 for the month of October.
According to the CDC, other symptoms can include runny nose, sneezing, wheezing and a decrease in appetite.
RSV is especially dangerous among infants and babies, with an estimated 58,000 to 80,000 children under age 5 being hospitalized with the virus, the CDC said.
However, some are at an even greater risk of severe illness, including those born prematurely, immunocompromised children and those suffering from congenital heart and lung diseases.
Ariella was born prematurely on March 24, at 30 weeks, via emergency C-section weighing one pound, five ounces because she was not thriving inside the womb, according to Walker.
She also has pulmonary vein stenosis, a rare condition in which the blood vessels that bring blood from the lungs to the heart are too narrow or even blocked.
However, Walker said that despite Ariella’s medical conditions, she was thriving and hitting her developmental milestones.
“Outside of her sickness, she was pretty much just a normal baby, always laughing and kicking her feet,” Walker said.
However, not long after Ariella was admitted to the hospital, she was transferred to Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, where she is currently in the pediatric intensive care unit.
Walker said Ariella’s lungs have been so greatly affected by RSV that she developed bronchitis, or inflammation of her airways. She has since been on a ventilator and even had to be put on an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine.
The machine pumps a patient’s blood outside the body, oxygenates it and then sends it back into the bloodstream, which allows the heart and lungs to rest.
Walker said the past several days have been very difficult. She has been at the hospital every day with Ariella while her partner stays home with their 5-year-old daughter.
Walker said the hospital is not allowing child visitors so her older daughter can’t visit Ariella.
“It’s been really hard on her sister because her sister loves [Ariella] so much and wants to see her but she’s not able to come up here and see her,” she said.
On Nov. 2, Ariella went into respiratory arrest, which is when a person stops breathing, and had to have CPR performed on her as well as intubation.
“It was the scariest [moment of my life],” Walker said. “I never want to see my child get CPR ever again. It was so scary. I lost it.”
Although Ariella has since been taken off the ECMO machine, Walker said she has a long way to go before she’s close to recovering. She said she wants to warn other families about the dangers of RSV and to make sure they receive medical attention if they notice a change in behavior.
“My main message is to warn families of this RSV, and this season is really, really bad,” she said. “So just really pay attention to your child’s behavior, because my daughter, she was just learning how to laugh and the next day she was critically ill.”
(NEW YORK) — Weekly flu cases, hospitalizations and deaths have nearly doubled for the second week in a row, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far this season, there have been at least 2.8 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations and 1,300 deaths from influenza.
By comparison, the prior week’s estimates had illnesses at 1.6 million, hospitalizations at 13,000 and deaths at 730.
Additionally, the cumulative hospitalization rate currently sits at 5 per 100,000, which is the highest at this point in the season since the 2010-11 season, as far back as statistics are available.
What’s more, 6,465 new patients were admitted to hospital this past week with flu complications, according to the CDC, compared to 4,326 the previous week.
Fourteen states — mostly in the southeast and south-central regions of the U.S. — as well as New York City and Washington, D.C., are reporting “very high” levels of influenza-like activity.
Experts have stressed that getting the flu shot is the best way to protect Americans from severe illness and death, but vaccine uptake has been sluggish in comparison with previous flu seasons during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to CDC data, flu vaccination among children remains similar to last season but is lower than two years ago.
As of the week ending Oct. 22, the latest date for which data is available, 24.8% have been vaccinated against flu in comparison with 32.1% at this time in October 2020.
CDC data shows that flu vaccinations among pregnant women are much lower compared to previous seasons.
At the end of September, the latest date for which data is available, 21% of pregnant women were vaccinated against the flu. By comparison, 26.4% had been vaccinated by the end of September 2021 and 38% had been at the end of September 2020.
This is especially concerning because pregnant women are more likely to fall severely ill and die compared to women who are not pregnant.
Receiving a flu shot can lower a pregnant woman’s risk of being hospitalized from flu by around 40%, according to the CDC.
Additionally, a recent study jointly conducted by the CDC and the University of Auckland, in New Zealand, found that women who receive a flu vaccine have a lower risk of complications, including premature birth, low birthweight and stillbirth.
The newest data comes as the U.S. experiences a surge of respiratory illnesses, including respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services showed 78% of the estimated 40,000 pediatric hospital beds in the country are filled with patients — the highest figure recorded in two years.
ABC News’ Sony Salzman and Eric Strauss contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Although it’s still early in the flu season, hospitals around the country are seeing more and more cases of the virus, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting there were at least 2.8 million cases, 23,000 hospitalizations and 1,300 deaths as of last week.
The higher-than-usual increase in flu cases is stretching hospitals to capacity, many of which are already trying to manage a surge in RSV cases in children as well as address ongoing COVID-19 cases.
Flu, which is caused by influenza viruses, is a contagious illness. According to the CDC, anyone can get the flu and symptoms of the virus include body or muscle aches, a cough, fatigue, fever, headache, a runny or stuffy nose and sore throat. Diarrhea and vomiting may also occur but these symptoms tend to affect children more than adults. Those who are at higher risk of developing complications from the flu include older adults over the age of 65, individuals with chronic medical conditions, pregnant women and young children, especially those 2 and under.
Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, told “Good Morning America” that one of the best ways to protect against the flu and COVID-19 is to get vaccinated.
“We are seeing a resurgence of flu. We’re seeing COVID cases tick up. But the good news is we’ve got two highly effective vaccines and the most important thing people can do to protect themselves and their families this holiday season is to get those vaccines,” Jha said. “And we are ready. We’re ready to help hospitals if they’re overwhelmed if they need extra staffing. We’re ready to manage this flu and COVID season ahead.”
Individuals can choose to get both their flu and COVID vaccines at the same time or wait to space them out, according to guidance from the CDC.
“I got them both at the same time. Totally safe, totally reasonable to do that. That’s what I’ve been recommending,” Jha said. “Obviously, if you want to keep them apart, that’s fine, but I really think it’s totally safe and very effective to get them at the same time and then you’re just done.”
The vaccines are not 100% preventative but Jha said they are effective in protecting against serious illnesses.
“If you get this vaccine, it is still possible to get the flu. These vaccines are not 100% effective at preventing infection, but they are terrific at preventing serious illness. They’ll keep you out of the hospital. They’ll keep you out of the ICU and that’s what really matters,” he said.
Jha added that this year’s flu vaccine appears to be a good match to the dominant flu virus strain in circulation.
“It’s actually quite effective,” he said. “It is not every year but this year, it really looks like it’s a very good match.”
And for those who say they’re tired of getting yet another vaccine, Jha has this message: “It’s obviously been a tough two-and-a-half years. I think some people have gotten out of practice of getting their annual flu shot. What I remind people is we’ve been doing this for a long time. In the fall, we go out and get the flu vaccine. This year, add that COVID vaccine. If people do that, it’s a great way to make sure you have a safe and non-disruptive holiday season ahead.”
(NEW YORK) — American biotechnology company Moderna announced Monday that a booster dose of its bivalent COVID-19 vaccine performs better against two circulating versions of the omicron variant, compared with a booster shot of its original formula.
The news echoes a similar announcement made earlier this month by American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, about their own bivalent booster shot.
In late August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized bivalent formulations of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for use as a single booster dose at least two months following primary or booster vaccination, designed to be a better match against the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. Since then, more than 31 million Americans have received the updated booster shots, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Each of the companies now have released data indicating their new formulations generate a superior antibody response against the current omicron subvariants.
According to a press release, new data from a Phase 2-3 clinical trial shows Moderna’s bivalent vaccine triggered antibody responses against the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants that were on average 15.1-fold higher, compared with the company’s prototype vaccine, when measured in adults approximately nine and a half months after prior vaccination. The safety and tolerability profile of the bivalent booster remains similar to the original vaccine, with adverse events “generally lower than the second dose of the primary series,” Moderna said.
The company noted that a preliminary analysis suggests its bivalent booster showed “neutralizing activity” against a descendant of BA.5 called BQ.1.1, which comprises a growing portion of COVID-19 cases. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel praised the data in a statement, saying it confirms “that updated vaccines have the potential to offer protection as the virus continues to evolve rapidly to escape our immunity.”
Moderna’s analysis, as described in the press release, has not been vetted through the normal scientific review process.
Smaller independent studies by outside scientists suggest there is little difference between antibody responses produced by the original and updated formulas of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, though both boosted antibody protection.
All of these studies are conducted by taking blood samples from recently vaccinated participants and measuring antibodies in a laboratory. They give us a hint of how well the vaccines might work but do not tell the full story of their effectiveness. Vaccines are still expected to offer a high level of protection against severe illness.
Once the dominant viral strain, the BA.5 subvariant is now estimated to account for about 30% of all new COVID-19 cases in the United States, according to the CDC. Newer versions of the omicron variant, such as BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, are slowly overtaking as a proportion of estimated cases, at 20% and 24%, respectively. These subvariants are descendants of BA.5.
The current COVID-19 situation in the U.S. is relatively stable, with cases rising slightly as hospitalizations and deaths remain comparatively consistent.
As the world nears its third year of the COVID-19 pandemic and the virus continues to evolve, booster shots are expected to bolster protection against severe illness but not necessarily mild or asymptomatic breakthrough infections.
