INFLUENZA

What is it?

• Common disease that causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide
  • Both seasonal and pandemic influenza occurs
  • Vaccination can decrease disease incidence and spread
  • Treatment can decrease disease severity
• Orthomyxoviruses (RNA virus)
  • 6 genera

 

Why do we care about influenza?

• Pandemic Influenza
  • Can infect and kill young, healthy people
  • 1918 H1N1 Influenza pandemic infected an estimated 500 million globally
    • Approximately 20% of the world’s population
  • Killed an estimated 50 million (may be as high as 100 million)
    • 2%-3% of the world’s population died

• Seasonal Influenza
  • Most often causes severe disease in the very young, very old, and those with chronic illnesses
  • Estimated between 3-5 million cases of severe illness around the world annually
  • Between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths

 

Bottom line

• Influenza is a potentially life threatening disease.
• Both seasonal and pandemic influenza are global concerns.
• Morbidity and mortality can be decreased through appropriate vaccination and treatment