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.

• Influenza Vaccination Cuts Risk of Critical Illness in Children - Monthly Prescribing Reference
  Tue, 18 Jan 2022 05:00 GMT
• This Season's Influenza Surge May Be Ending, But It Isn't Gone Yet - Kaiser Health News
  Tue, 18 Jan 2022 13:53 GMT
• COVID-19, influenza driving hospitalizations among South Dakota children - KELOLAND.com
  Tue, 18 Jan 2022 22:22 GMT
• Green tea daily wards off influenza and other respiratory viruses, say researchers - NutraIngredients.com
  Tue, 18 Jan 2022 11:04 GMT
• Bird Flu: 2 People Dead In China From H5N6 Avian Influenza - Forbes
  Sun, 16 Jan 2022 06:08 GMT
• This winter's flu season epidemic has started – what we know so far and what needs to be done to control it - World Health Organization
  Sat, 25 Dec 2021 08:00 GMT
• Free COVID-19, influenza testing clinic in Fredericktown, Mo. - KFVS
  Tue, 18 Jan 2022 21:49 GMT
• “Flurona,” the co-infection of Influenza and COVID-19 - Marquette Wire
  Tue, 18 Jan 2022 10:06 GMT
• Influenza A (H5) - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - World Health Organization
  Fri, 14 Jan 2022 15:32 GMT
• HPE Public Health confirms first case of Influenza A in the region - Global News
  Mon, 17 Jan 2022 22:44 GMT
• Fact check: Influenza virus is still active, hasn't 'disappeared' - USA TODAY
  Thu, 30 Dec 2021 08:00 GMT
• Leyden Labs Licenses Pan-Influenza Antibody from Janssen - GlobeNewswire
  Tue, 18 Jan 2022 12:00 GMT
• Influenza Diagnostics Market to Reach USD 3374.9 Million by 2027 at a CAGR of 6.3% | Valuates Reports - PRNewswire
  Mon, 17 Jan 2022 15:00 GMT
• No more annual flu shot? New target for universal influenza vaccine - Science Daily
  Thu, 23 Dec 2021 08:00 GMT
• SNHD: 2 deaths from influenza in Clark County this season - FOX5 Las Vegas
  Sat, 15 Jan 2022 01:26 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

• Neutrophil subsets and their differential roles in viral respiratory diseases Tue, 18 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0500
  Neutrophils play significant roles in immune homeostasis and as neutralizers of microbial infections. Recent evidence further suggests heterogeneity of neutrophil developmental and activation states that exert specialized effector functions during inflammatory disease conditions. Neutrophils can play multiple roles during viral infections, secreting inflammatory mediators and cytokines that contribute significantly to host defense and pathogenicity. However, their roles in viral immunity are not...
• Hemagglutinin-based DNA vaccines containing trimeric self-assembling nanoparticles confer protection against influenza Tue, 18 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0500
  Influenza viruses continue to threaten public health, and currently available vaccines provide insufficient immunity against seasonal and pandemic influenza. The use of recombinant trimeric hemagglutinin (HA) as an Ag provides an attractive alternative to current influenza vaccines. Aiming to develop an effective vaccine with rapid production, robust immunogenicity, and high protective efficiency, a DNA vaccine was designed by fusing influenza virus HA with self-assembled ferritin nanoparticles,...
• Evolution of influenza A virus in intensive and free-range swine farms in Spain Tue, 18 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0500
  Swine harbor genetically diverse influenza A viruses (IAVs) with the capacity to host-switch to humans, causing global pandemics. Spain is the largest swine producer in Europe and has a mixed production system that includes 'white coat' pigs raised intensively in modern buildings and free-range Iberian pigs that interface differently with humans, wildlife, and other swine. Through active longitudinal IAV surveillance in nine Spanish provinces during 2015-9, we generated forty-seven complete or...
• Vaccination against influenza among Lebanese health care workers in the era of coronavirus disease 2019 Tue, 18 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0500
  CONCLUSION: Flu vaccination uptake has increased among HCWs during the 2020-2021 flu season compared with the previous one. Continuing education as well as ensuring free, equitable, and convenient access to vaccination are still required to increase the annual flu vaccination uptake among HCWs.
• SARS-CoV-2 and the role of orofecal transmission: a systematic review Tue, 18 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0500
  CONCLUSIONS: Varied observational and mechanistic evidence suggests SARS-CoV-2 can infect and be shed from the gastrointestinal tract, including some data demonstrating viral culture in fecal samples. To fully assess these risks, quantitative data on infectious virus in these settings and infectious dose are needed.
• Purifying selection determines the short-term time dependency of evolutionary rates in SARS-CoV-2 and pH1N1 influenza Mon, 17 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0500
  High throughput sequencing enables rapid genome sequencing during infectious disease outbreaks and provides an opportunity to quantify the evolutionary dynamics of pathogens in near real-time. One difficulty of undertaking evolutionary analyses over short timescales is the dependency of the inferred evolutionary parameters on the timespan of observation. Crucially, there is an increasing number of molecular clock analyses using external evolutionary rate priors to infer evolutionary parameters....
• COVID-19 and influenza coinfection: The rise of Omicron and H3N2 in Brazil - 2022 Mon, 17 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0500
  No abstract
• Self-reported anxiety level and related factors in senior high school students in China during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 Mon, 17 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0500
  CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that COVID-19 outbreak may increase anxiety level in senior high school students in China. The anxiety related factors observed in this study may help to identify vulnerable individuals and develop interventions.
• Review of genome sequencing technologies in molecular characterization of influenza A viruses in swine Mon, 17 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0500
  The rapidly evolving antigenic diversity of influenza A virus (IAV) genomes in swine makes it imperative to detect emerging novel strains and track their circulation. We analyzed in our review the sequencing technologies used for subtyping and characterizing swine IAV genomes. Google Scholar, PubMed, and International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC) database searches identified 216 studies that have utilized Sanger, second-, and third-generation sequencing techniques to...
• Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 can be detected in exhaled aerosol sampled during a few minutes of breathing or coughing Mon, 17 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0500
  CONCLUSION: SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected in exhaled aerosol, sampled during a limited number of breathing and coughing procedures. Detection in aerosol seemed independent of viral load in the upper airway swab as well as of the exhaled number of particles. The infectious potential of the amount of virus detected in aerosol needs to be further explored.