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.

• What’s Going Around: Viral illnesses, influenza, strep throat - ABC27
  Thu, 21 Oct 2021 08:30 GMT
• Pharmacy Clinical Pearl of the Day: Bird Flu (Avian Influenza) - Pharmacy Times
  Thu, 21 Oct 2021 12:41 GMT
• Influenza expected to make a comeback; vaccinations urged - UMass Medical School
  Wed, 13 Oct 2021 14:45 GMT
• Will this flu season be worse than usual? - Maclean's
  Wed, 20 Oct 2021 21:07 GMT
• Santa Barbara County veterinarians concerned with canine influenza outbreak | NewsChannel 3-12 - KEYT
  Thu, 21 Oct 2021 00:39 GMT
• Influenza on agenda in Turkey as COVID-19 vaccine doses pass 114M | Daily Sabah - Daily Sabah
  Thu, 21 Oct 2021 06:35 GMT
• Worst cold ever, flu or covid-19? Countries brace for influenza and pandemic. - The Washington Post
  Wed, 13 Oct 2021 13:45 GMT
• Influenza Virus Is Primed for Continual Emergence and Pandemic Potential - Contagionlive.com
  Mon, 11 Oct 2021 13:17 GMT
• Following record-low influenza season, low natural immunity, health officials recommend getting flu vaccine - MassLive.com
  Mon, 18 Oct 2021 17:49 GMT
• Influenza is on the rise; how do I prevent it? - World Health Organization
  Fri, 01 Oct 2021 07:00 GMT
• Are we heading toward a COVID-19 and flu 'twindemic' this season? - Medical News Today
  Tue, 28 Sep 2021 07:00 GMT
• COVID-19 as a true seasonal low-temperature infection, similar to influenza: Study findings - Outbreak News Today - Outbreak News Today
  Thu, 21 Oct 2021 20:30 GMT
• COVID-19 and Influenza Surveillance – Coronavirus - Virginia Department of Health
  Tue, 28 Sep 2021 07:00 GMT
• Influenza Continues Abating Detection - PrecisionVaccinations
  Mon, 18 Oct 2021 20:03 GMT
• Even in Shadow of COVID-19, Influenza Poses Pandemic Threat - Infection Control Today
  Tue, 12 Oct 2021 17:56 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

• Uncovering a conserved vulnerability site in SARS-CoV-2 by a human antibody Thu, 21 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0400
  An essential step for SARS-CoV-2 infection is the attachment to the host cell receptor by its Spike receptor-binding domain (RBD). Most of the existing RBD-targeting neutralizing antibodies block the receptor-binding motif (RBM), a mutable region with the potential to generate neutralization escape mutants. Here, we isolated and structurally characterized a non-RBM-targeting monoclonal antibody (FD20) from convalescent patients. FD20 engages the RBD at an epitope distal to the RBM with a K(D) of...
• Moving the Needle on Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease and Heart Failure with Influenza Vaccination Thu, 21 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0400
  PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The interplay between viral respiratory infections and cardiovascular disease has been most comprehensively researched using seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses as case studies. Here, we summarize the latest international observational research and clinical trials that examined the association between influenza, influenza vaccines, and cardiovascular disease, while contextualizing their findings within those of landmark studies.
• Pediatric Clinical Trials in Mainland China Over the Past Decade (From 2009 to 2020) Thu, 21 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0400
  In mainland China, there remains a shortage of pediatric drugs. The Chinese government has recently launched policies and incentives to encourage pediatric drug development and clinical trials. However, data on the characteristics or development trends of these trials are limited. In this review, we extracted source data from the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry and Information Transparency Platform and systematically reviewed the pediatric clinical trials conducted in mainland China from 2009...
• COVID-19 measures and the Japanese Constitution Thu, 21 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0400
  Since March 2020, the Act on Special Measures for Pandemic Influenza and New Infectious Diseases Preparedness and Response has been a significant statute in dealing with COVID-19 in Japan. The Act mandates requests and orders for business suspension and shortened business hours, as well as stay-at-home requests. Although there have been no penalties as of January 2021, these requests and orders limit freedom of movement and establishment, guaranteed rights under the Japanese Constitution. This...
• Predicting Cross-Species Infection of Swine Influenza Virus with Representation Learning of Amino Acid Features Thu, 21 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0400
  Swine influenza viruses (SIVs) can unforeseeably cross the species barriers and directly infect humans, which pose huge challenges for public health and trigger pandemic risk at irregular intervals. Computational tools are needed to predict infection phenotype and early pandemic risk of SIVs. For this purpose, we propose a feature representation algorithm to predict cross-species infection of SIVs. We built a high-quality dataset of 1902 viruses. A feature representation learning scheme was...
• Tetrameric Neuraminidase of Influenza A Virus Is Required to Induce Protective Antibody Responses in Mice Thu, 21 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0400
  Influenza neuraminidase (NA) is able to induce cross-subtype immunity and is considered as a promising target for the development of universal influenza vaccines. However, commercial influenza vaccines only induced low NA-specific immune responses due to the low amounts and the denatured conformation of NA proteins in current inactivated or split influenza vaccines. Here we investigated the protective efficacy of recombinant tetrameric and monomeric NA proteins to determine whether the...
• Molecular Evolution of the Influenza A Virus Non-structural Protein 1 in Interspecies Transmission and Adaptation Thu, 21 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0400
  The non-structural protein 1 (NS1) of influenza A viruses plays important roles in viral fitness and in the process of interspecies adaptation. It is one of the most polymorphic and mutation-tolerant proteins of the influenza A genome, but its evolutionary patterns in different host species and the selective pressures that underlie them are hard to define. In this review, we highlight some of the species-specific molecular signatures apparent in different NS1 proteins and discuss two functions...
• Molecular insights into receptor binding of recent emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants Thu, 21 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0400
  Multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) have been emerging and some have been linked to an increase in case numbers globally. However, there is yet a lack of understanding of the molecular basis for the interactions between the human ACE2 (hACE2) receptor and these VOCs. Here we examined several VOCs including Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, and demonstrate that five variants receptor-binding domain (RBD) increased binding affinity for hACE2, and four variants pseudoviruses increased entry into...
• Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus in Wild Red Foxes, the Netherlands, 2021 Thu, 21 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0400
  We detected infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) virus clade 2.3.4.4b in 2 red fox (Vulpes vulpes) cubs found in the wild with neurologic signs in the Netherlands. The virus is related to avian influenza viruses found in wild birds in the same area.
• Genetically Divergent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N8) Viruses in Wild Birds, Eastern China Thu, 21 Oct 2021 06:00:00 -0400
  In late 2020, we detected 32 highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N8) viruses in migratory ducks in Shanghai, China. Phylogenetic analysis of 5 representative isolates identified 2 sublineages of clade 2.3.4.4b. Each sublineage formed separate clusters with isolates from East Asia and Europe.