Influenza
Influenza is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus. Symptoms can be mild to severe. The most common symptoms include: high fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle and joint pain, headache, coughing, and feeling tired. Complications of influenza may include viral pneumonia, secondary bacterial pneumonia, sinus infections, and worsening of previous health problems such as asthma or heart failure. The vaccine is usually effective against three or four types of influenza.
About Influenza in brief
Influenza is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus. Symptoms can be mild to severe. The most common symptoms include: high fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle and joint pain, headache, coughing, and feeling tired. Complications of influenza may include viral pneumonia, secondary bacterial pneumonia, sinus infections, and worsening of previous health problems such as asthma or heart failure. Influenza spreads around the world in yearly outbreaks, resulting in about three to five million cases of severe illness and about 290,000 to 650,000 deaths. The vaccine is usually effective against three or four types of influenza. It is usually well tolerated. A vaccine made for one year may not be useful in the following year, since the virus evolves rapidly. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains an up-to-date summary of the prevalence of influenza in the U.S. during the influenza season as long as the prevalence is over 15%. Even in the absence of a local outbreak, diagnosis may be justified in the elderly during the flu season as the long-term prevalence of the virus is over 10%. The specific combination of fever and cough has found to be the best predictor; diagnostic accuracy increases with a body temperature above 38°C. Two decision analysis studies suggest that during local outbreaks of influenza, the prevalence will be over 70%. The World Health Organization declared an outbreak of a new type of influenza AH1N1 to be a pandemic in June 2009.
In the 20th century, three influenza pandemics occurred: Spanish influenza in 1918, Asian influenza in 1957, and Hong Kong influenza in 1968. In the northern and southern parts of the world, outbreaks occur mainly in the winter, while around the equator, outbreaks may occur at any time of the year. Approximately 33% of people with influenza are asymptomatic. The infection may be confirmed by testing the throat, sputum, or nose for the virus. A number of rapid tests are available; however, people may still have the infection even if the results are negative. Frequent hand washing reduces the risk of viral spread, as does wearing a surgical mask. The virus is spread through the air from coughs or sneezes. This is believed to occur mostly over relatively short distances. It can also be spread by touching surfaces contaminated by the virus and then touching the eyes, nose, or mouth. Diarrhea and vomiting are not usually a symptom in children, although it can be a sign in some cases of the H5N1 strain of the flu. Approximately 20% of unvaccinated children and 10% ofUnvaccinated adults are infected each year. About 20% of un vaccinated children are infected with influenza each year, and about 10% of un vaccinated adults. The flu is a mixture of symptoms of the common cold, body aches, headache and fatigue. The symptoms are seen in the adjacent table in children and can be seen in some children.
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This page is based on the article Influenza published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
