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Flu Season In The Time Of Coronavirus; Record Number Of Young Americans Living With Their Parents; Muscled-up Rodents; Wacky Weather. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired September 09, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz. Today`s first story concerns a vaccine and a virus but breaking news, it`s not coronavirus, at least not
all by itself. We`re talking about influenza. Flu season in the United States when catching the disease is more likely, is in the fall and winter.
That`s according to the Centers for Disease Control which says the peak, the worst part of flu season, is between December and February. The flu
vaccine is not the perfect solution. The CDC says when it`s a good match for the flu viruses that are actually going around, the vaccine is between
40 and 60 percent effective at keeping people from having to go to the doctor for flu symptoms.
In some years, the vaccine is less effective because it`s not a good match and the shot itself can cause side effects like fever, nausea and muscle
aches. But health officials say, it`s the best way for people to reduce their chances of getting the flu and spreading the flu. In a typical year,
about 45 percent of Americans get the vaccine.
It`s the same in Britain. But you don`t need me to tell you this ain`t a typical year. And here`s where things can get more complicated in 2020.
Initial flu symptoms look a lot like initial coronavirus symptoms. Doctors say you should stay home with either disease but coronavirus is believed to
be more dangerous.
And only a COVID test can determine whether someone has it or something else. Those test results can take days to get. So experts say the
coronavirus and influenza spreading at the same time with similar symptoms can have a pretty big impact on the number of work days and school days
people miss this fall.
Health care workers are also concerned that the two diseases combined could put a greater burden on the healthcare system. We`ve got Dr. Sanjay Gupta
in the house now to answer some frequently asked questions about flu in the time of coronavirus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: How can I safely get a flu vaccine in the middle of this pandemic? A very fair question. People
want to maintain physical distance. How do you still get a flu shot? Well luckily many places around the country are offering drive-thru flu shots.
Many are often curbside flu shots. If you go to your local drug store, some of them even offer the flu shots within the drug store while maintaining
safety protocols.
I understand the desire for social distance but I think it`s also important to get a flu shot this year. It`s important to get one every year but
perhaps even more important this year because we`re probably going to have a convergence of both flu and coronavirus this fall. So anything we can do
to reduce flu I think is going to be really important.
Will the flu vaccine protect me from coronavirus as well? Unfortunately, no. These are both considered respiratory viruses and many of the symptoms
can be very similar. A cough, a fever, sore throat, but unfortunately the flu shot does not protect you from the coronavirus. Can I get coronavirus
and influenza at the same time?
The answer to this question appears to be yes. There`ve been a few studies on this now. One large study, actually looked at patients who with known
coronavirus and also examined their respiratory specimens to see if they had another respiratory virus. And 25 percent of the time, roughly, they
did. This is yet another reason to make sure you get your flu vaccine this year.
What can I do to prevent getting the flu this year besides getting a flu vaccine? Many of the same things we`ve been talking about for preventing
coronavirus work to help prevent the flu. In fact, because of some of these measures that have gone into place over the last few months, we have seen
places where flu has also decreased.
Obviously, with coronavirus, you wear a mask and you try and keep physical distance. You`re washing your hands as much as possible. You`re doing all
the things to basically make it harder for this virus to jump from person to person. The same things that work for coronavirus are also going to help
decrease the chances that you`ll get the flu.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: More than half of all the young adults in America are now living with their parents. This is according to a new report by the Pew Research
Center, an organization that looks at demographic trends and public opinion. Pew defines young adults as people who are between 18 and 29 years
old and never before have 52 percent of them been recorded as living at home with at least one of their parents.
Historic data is incomplete. It`s possible that more young people were doing it during the height of the Great Depression in the 1930s` but info
on that doesn`t exist. The last time the recorded number was this high was in 1940 near the end of the Depression when 48 percent of young adults were
living with their parents.
Overall though, this percentage has been increasing since 1960. At that time it was at 29 percent by February of this year, it had reason to 47
percent and by July it was at the record 53 percent. So why the recent jump? Probably because of the coronavirus pandemic according to the report.
Pew Research says that young adults in particular have been hit hard by the shutdowns and closures and they`re more likely to move. A senior economist
at Zillow, a real estate information company, says because most 18 to 25 year olds tend to be renters, this is having an effect on that market with
an increasing number of rental homes coming available.
10 Second Trivia. Which of these cartoon characters first appeared in a short called the Mouse of Tomorrow in 1942? Mickey Mouse, Mighty Mouse,
Jerry or Fievel. Originally known as "Super Mouse", the character that became Mighty Mouse made his debut in `42.
As far as television goes, Mighty Mouse hasn`t been on the air in years but he has been in space in a manner of speaking. These have been called
"mighty mice". They`re genetically modified mice that have twice the muscle mass than unaltered mice and 40 of them were recently sent into space for a
study on muscle mass.
Without the daily force of gravity, people and mice normally lose muscle. NASA says in spaceflights lasting five to 11 days, astronauts can lose as
much as 20 percent of their muscle. Those who spend months on the International Space Station regularly exercise to help prevent this loss,
but this kind of training might not be possible during long term space flight.
So scientists have been experimenting with "mighty mice" to see if a drug could be produced one day that could help astronauts keep their muscle in a
microgravity environment. Of course, especially those related to maintaining or increasing muscle mass have an array of unwanted side
effects.
So researchers are looking to create treatments that avoid those. And as far as the mice were concerned, the genetically altered ones were able to
keep more of their muscle mass in space and recover it faster once they got back down to Earth.
Speaking of Earth, there`ve been some unusual weather patterns taking place in the United States this month. We told you yesterday how western heat
waves have been worsening conditions for California`s record wildfires. But move east to the Rocky Mountains and you see a very different picture
taking shape. Wind speeds of 99 miles per hour, that`s a force of a Category 2 hurricane were recorded Tuesday in part of Utah. CNN 10
contributor Tyler Mauldin tells us how that`s part of a dramatic temperature change for the region. Tyler.
TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST CONTRIBUTOR: Carl, from record heat to record cold, a dramatic temperature swing has hit the country this week.
Temperatures above 100 degrees were being felt from the Rocky Mountains to the west coast Labor Day weekend. But, fall if not winter-like air is now
moving down from Canada as the jet stream dives south, its cold front sweeping the country and dropping temperatures some 40 degrees below normal
all the way into Texas.
Nowhere is this more pronounced than in Denver, Colorado. Check this out. On Saturday, Denver hit a record high of 101 degrees followed by another
record high of 97 degrees on Sunday, another day of 90-degree heat on Monday. Then, get this, 35 degrees for a high on Tuesday. That`s a more
than 60 degree drop from the holiday weekend.
Of course in 2020 fashion, this is also spawning a rare September winter storm for the Rocky Mountains. More than eight inches of snow, yes you
heard that right, eight inches of snow to impact the Rocky`s which are currently under winter weather alerts. Denver, according to its local
national weather service office, doesn`t typically see its first measurable snow until mid-October.
The earliest measurable snowfall on record for the city was September 3rd, 1961. So this is one of the earliest big snows on record for the Rocky`s.
It`s not going to last long. Carl, temperatures are going to rebound in the days to come. It is however, a sign that we`re now transitioning out of the
summer season.
AZUZ: In the 1980s`, an avant garde composer named John Cage wrote a musical piece entitled "As Slow As Possible", to play it would take 639
years. A church in Germany accepted that challenge in 2001 and if all goes according to plan, the performance will wrap up in 2640. So why is this
making news now? Because just last weekend, the piece made its first chord change in seven years. The next one won`t happen until 2022.
It`s definitely a piece for the ages with no sudden movements. But "adagio", critics would say, "adagino". They`d rather "largo" do something
different. They "andon`te" want to wait for something that "adagislow". Musical puns. They got a ring to them ya`ll.
I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. Soda Springs High School gets today`s shout out. It`s in Soda Springs, Idaho and while I don`t personally choose the schools
we mention. They are picked from the most recent program on our YouTube site.
END
