Influenza Virus Net is the web resource for anyone interested in influenza and flu pandemics. Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae (the influenza viruses), that affects humans, birds and other mammals. The virus spreads easily from person to person. Influenza circulates worldwide and can affect anybody in any age group. Influenza causes annual epidemics that peak during winter in temperate regions. Influenza is a serious public health problem that causes severe illnesses and deaths for higher risk populations. The most common symptoms of the disease are chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness/fatigue and general discomfort. Sore throat, fever and coughs are the most frequent symptoms. In more serious cases, influenza causes pneumonia, which can be fatal, particularly for the young and the elderly. An influenza epidemic can take an economic toll through lost workforce productivity, and strain health services. Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent infection.

The objectives of Influenza Virus Net are to be the public and professional information resource for influenza and to serve as a network in the exchange of information and news related to influenza.

• 'Sharp upswing': Flu shots encouraged after early peak of Alberta cases, says U of A infectious disease specialist - Edmonton Journal
  Sun, 29 Jan 2023 19:19 GMT
• Data: Looking at COVID-19, flu, and RSV heading into Super Bowl - ABC15 Arizona in Phoenix
  Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:46 GMT
• Computer Model of Influenza Virus Shows Universal Vaccine Promise - today.ucsd.edu
  Wed, 25 Jan 2023 15:40 GMT
• Canine flu: What to know to protect your dog - The Washington Post
  Thu, 15 Dec 2022 08:00 GMT
• How Effective is the Flu Shot This Year? Here's When We'll Know - Healthline
  Fri, 09 Dec 2022 08:00 GMT
• Bay Port student dies from complications caused by flu and strep B - WBAY
  Fri, 23 Dec 2022 08:00 GMT
• What to know about the triple threat of influenza, Covid and RSV - CNN
  Fri, 09 Dec 2022 08:00 GMT
• Children are dying from flu. Some provinces are slow to report it — and these experts say that's dangerous - CBC
  Sun, 18 Dec 2022 08:00 GMT
• Flu causes huge spike in child hospitalizations in Canada - Nature.com
  Mon, 12 Dec 2022 08:00 GMT
• How deadly bird flu sparked explosive outbreaks in 2022 — and why it matters for global health - CBC
  Sat, 17 Dec 2022 08:00 GMT
• Three Teenagers With Influenza Die After Secondary Infection - Medscape
  Fri, 27 Jan 2023 15:58 GMT
• Avian Influenza Detected in Larimer County - North Forty News
  Wed, 01 Feb 2023 15:01 GMT
• Bolivia officials urge public not to panic over avian influenza ... - Outbreak News Today
  Wed, 01 Feb 2023 01:25 GMT
• Human infection caused by avian influenza A(H5) - Ecuador - World Health Organization
  Wed, 18 Jan 2023 08:00 GMT
• Columbia sees dip in flu cases, 'second bump' could arrive | COVID-19 - Columbia Missourian
  Tue, 31 Jan 2023 23:15 GMT

• PRO/AH/EDR> Avian influenza (116): Europe (Russia) zoo, wild bird, backyard, HPAI H5N1, OIE
  Mon, 20 Sep 2021 15:46:50 -0400
  Avian Influenza H5N1 -- Russia
  Summary
  Report type: immediate notification
  Started: 27 Aug 2021
  Confirmed: 2 Sep 2021
  Reported: 15 Sep 2021
  Reason for notification: recurrence
  Last occurrence: 13 Dec 2020
  Causal agent: highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
  Serotype: H5N1
  Nature of diagnosis: clinical, laboratory
  This event pertains to a defined zone within the country.
  New outbreaks (3)
  Summary of outbreaks
  Total outbreaks (3)
  Outbreak location 1: Zateryanny mir, Chelyabinsk gorsovet,


• PRO/AH/EDR> Avian influenza, human (20): Cambodia (SI) H9N2
  Sun, 19 Sep 2021 19:23:42 -0400
  Avian Influenza -- Cambodia
  Abstract
  ---------
  In February 2021, routine sentinel surveillance for influenza-like illness in Cambodia detected a human avian influenza A(H9N2) virus infection. Investigations identified no recent H9N2 virus infections in 43 close contacts. One chicken sample from the infected child's house was positive for H9N2 virus and genetically similar to the human virus.
  --
  Communicated by:
  Jurre Siegers
  Institute Pasteur du Cambodge
  
  [ProMED thanks Jurre Siegers for sharing the early

• Epidemiology of invasive nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae disease-United States, 2008-2019 Wed, 01 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0500
  CONCLUSION: NTHi causes substantial invasive disease, especially among older adults, pregnant/postpartum women, and neonates. Enhanced surveillance and evaluation of targeted interventions to prevent perinatal NTHi infections may be warranted.
• Postinfluenza Cardiac Tamponade: A Review of Published Case Reports Wed, 01 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0500
  Increased vaccination rates and better understanding of influenza virus infection and clinical presentation have improved the disease's overall prognosis. However, influenza can cause life-threatening complications such as cardiac tamponade, which has only been documented in case reports. We searched PubMed/Medline and SCOPUS and EMBASE through December 2021 and identified 25 case reports on echocardiographically confirmed cardiac tamponade in our review of influenza-associated cardiac...
• Risk Factors for Respiratory Viral Infections: A Spotlight on Climate Change and Air Pollution Wed, 01 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0500
  Climate change has both direct and indirect effects on human health, and some populations are more vulnerable to these effects than others. Viral respiratory infections are most common illnesses in humans, with estimated 17 billion incident infections globally in 2019. Anthropogenic drivers of climate change, chiefly the emission of greenhouse gases and toxic pollutants from burning of fossil fuels, and the consequential changes in temperature, precipitation, and frequency of extreme weather...
• Assessment of influenza A (H1N1, H3N2) oseltamivir resistance during 2017-2019 in Iran Wed, 01 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0500
  CONCLUSION: Evaluation of NA gene sequences, showed no resistant viruses to oseltamivir. Given that the viruses in the present study were the last viruses circulating in Iran before COVID-19 pandemic, the results will be beneficial to have a worthy comparison with the strains circulating after the pandemic. Constant monitoring for the emergence of drug-resistant variants and antigenic changes are crucial for all countries.
• Marburg virus disease: the paradox of Nigeria's preparedness and priority effects in co-epidemics Wed, 01 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0500
  BACKGROUND: The recent outbreaks of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in Guinea and Ghana have become a major public health concern not only to the West African sub-region but a threat to global health.
• Prescription factors influencing baloxavir prescription during the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 seasons: a administrative database study in Japan Wed, 01 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0500
  CONCLUSION: Children, female sex, inpatient, hospital bed capacity, and private hospitals were negatively associated with baloxavir prescription.
• BRD4 is involved in viral exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Wed, 01 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0500
  CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that CS and viruses may synergistically induce IL-6 and IL-8 expression through their synergistic induction of BRD4 expression, which might contribute to the enhanced inflammatory response in the viral exacerbation of COPD.
• Trends in respiratory diseases before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in China from 2010 to 2021 Wed, 01 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0500
  CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated the incidence of the seven respiratory diseases decreased rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. At the end of 2021, we did see a rising trend for the seven respiratory diseases compared to the year 2020 when the NPIs relaxed in China, but the rising trend was not significant after adjusting for the NPIs indicators. Our study showed that NPIs have an effect on respiratory diseases, but Relaxation of NPIs might lead to the resurgence of...
• Vinyl Sulfone-functionalized Acetalated Dextran Microparticles as a Subunit Broadly Acting Influenza Vaccine Tue, 31 Jan 2023 06:00:00 -0500
  Influenza is a global health concern with millions of infections occurring yearly. Seasonal flu vaccines are one way to combat this virus; however, they are poorly protective against influenza as the virus is constantly mutating, particularly at the immunodominant hemagglutinin (HA) head group. A more broadly acting approach involves Computationally Optimized Broadly Reactive Antigen (COBRA). COBRA HA generates a broad immune response that is capable of protecting against mutating strains....
• Clonal Kinetics and Single-Cell Transcriptional Profiles of T Cells Mobilized to Blood by Acute Exercise Tue, 31 Jan 2023 06:00:00 -0500
  CONCLUSIONS: Acute exercise promotes an oligoclonal T-cell repertoire by preferentially mobilizing the most dominant clones, several of which are specific to known viral antigens and display differentially expressed genes indicative of cytotoxicity, activation, and apoptosis.