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.

• COVID-19, influenza vaccine appointments in Alberta begin Oct. 16 - CBC.ca
  Thu, 28 Sep 2023 20:37 GMT
• Recommended composition of influenza virus vaccines for use in the 2024 southern hemisphere influenza season - World Health Organization
  Fri, 29 Sep 2023 16:22 GMT
• WHO says flu vaccines should ditch strain that vanished during COVID - Ars Technica
  Fri, 29 Sep 2023 22:08 GMT
• WHO advisers recommend switch back to trivalent flu vaccines - University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  Fri, 29 Sep 2023 21:03 GMT
• Avian influenza: EFSA recommends increased protection of farms from wild birds | EFSA - EFSA news
  Thu, 28 Sep 2023 12:00 GMT
• Alberta to roll out most COVID-19 and influenza vaccines Oct. 16, booking to start Oct. 10 - Edmonton Journal
  Thu, 28 Sep 2023 19:51 GMT
• B.C.’s COVID and influenza vaccine timeline announced - Global News
  Thu, 28 Sep 2023 20:32 GMT
• China reports fatal H5N6 avian influenza case in Chongqing - Outbreak News Today - Outbreak News Today
  Thu, 28 Sep 2023 00:28 GMT
• Low Vaccination Concerns Highlight Need for Fall and Winter 2023 Vaccination Campaigns - Infection Control Today
  Thu, 28 Sep 2023 23:21 GMT
• Proteomic and genetic analyses of influenza A viruses identify pan-viral host targets - Nature.com
  Wed, 27 Sep 2023 14:26 GMT
• 250 birds infected with bird flu in first cases in Israel in five months - The Jerusalem Post
  Wed, 27 Sep 2023 22:08 GMT
• Hong Kong girl, 5, dies from flu complications - YP
  Fri, 29 Sep 2023 07:00 GMT
• Texas Announces Influenza Awareness Day — Precision ... - Precision Vaccinations
  Sat, 30 Sep 2023 13:45 GMT
• Defend the flock, preventing avian influenza in Mississippi - Daily ... - Dailyleader
  Sat, 30 Sep 2023 16:36 GMT
• Larsen Reintroduces Bill to Boost Federal Response to Seasonal ... - Rick Larsen
  Fri, 29 Sep 2023 07:00 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

• Rational approach to vaccination against highly pathogenic avian influenza in Nigeria: a scientific perspective and global best practice Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400
  Since 2006, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtypes H5Nx have adversely affected poultry production in Nigeria. Successive waves of infections in the last two decades have raised concerns about the ability to contain infections by biosecurity alone, and evidence of recurrent outbreaks suggests a need for adoption of additional control measures such as vaccination. Although vaccination can be used to control virus spread and reduce the morbidity and mortality caused by HPAI, no country...
• Use of Patient-Reported Symptom Data in Clinical Decision Rules for Predicting Influenza in a Telemedicine Setting Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400
  INTRODUCTION: Increased use of telemedicine could potentially streamline influenza diagnosis and reduce transmission. However, telemedicine diagnoses are dependent on accurate symptom reporting by patients. If patients disagree with clinicians on symptoms, previously derived diagnostic rules may be inaccurate.
• Implementation of a vaccination clinic for adult solid organ transplant candidates: A single-center experience Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400
  Vaccination is an evidence-based strategy to prevent or reduce the severity of infectious diseases (ID). Here, we aimed to describe the experience of implementing a vaccination clinic specifically targeting liver, heart, lung, and combined dual organ transplantation at a single transplantation center in Denmark. In this cohort of 242 solid organ transplant (SOT) candidates, we investigated seroprotection and the proportion of recommended vaccinations documented before transplantation....
• What Have We Learned by Resurrecting the 1918 Influenza Virus? Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400
  The 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic was one of the deadliest infectious disease events in recorded history, resulting in approximately 50-100 million deaths worldwide. The origins of the 1918 virus and the molecular basis for its exceptional virulence remained a mystery for much of the 20th century because the pandemic predated virologic techniques to isolate, passage, and store influenza viruses. In the late 1990s, overlapping fragments of influenza viral RNA preserved in the tissues of several...
• Influenza: Searching for Pandemic Origins Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400
  From a farming family of 13 children in New Zealand, I graduated with a Master of Science degree in microbiology from the University of Otago (Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand). I established the first veterinary virology laboratory at Wallaceville Animal Research Station. I subsequently completed my PhD degree at Australian National University (Canberra, Australia) and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan). While in New South Wales, Australia, a walk on a...
• Segmented, Negative-Sense RNA Viruses of Humans: Genetic Systems and Experimental Uses of Reporter Strains Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400
  Negative-stranded RNA viruses are a large group of viruses that encode their genomes in RNA across multiple segments in an orientation antisense to messenger RNA. Their members infect broad ranges of hosts, and there are a number of notable human pathogens. Here, we examine the development of reverse genetic systems as applied to these virus families, emphasizing conserved approaches illustrated by some of the prominent members that cause significant human disease. We also describe the utility...
• Bibliometric analysis of publication trends and topics of influenza-related encephalopathy from 2000 to 2022 Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400
  CONCLUSIONS: The research progress, hotspots, and frontiers on influenza-related encephalopathy after 2000 were described through the visualization of bibliometrics. The findings will lay the groundwork for future studies and provide a reference for influenza-related encephalopathy. Research on influenza-related encephalopathy is basically at a stable stage, and the number of research results is related to outbreaks of the influenza virus.
• Interaction among inflammasome, PANoptosise, and innate immune cells in infection of influenza virus: Updated review Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400
  CONCLUSION: A comprehensive understanding of the dynamic interactions between PANoptosis, Inflammasomes, and IV is essential for advancing our knowledge of innate immune responses to viral infections. This knowledge will be invaluable in developing targeted antiviral therapies to combat IV and mitigate potential complications, including cytokine storms and tissue damage.
• Influenza H7N9 virus disrupts the monolayer human brain microvascular endothelial cells barrier in vitro Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400
  Influenza H7N9 virus causes human infections with about 40% case fatality rate. The severe cases usually present with pneumonia; however, some present with central nervous system complications. Pneumonia syndrome is attributed to the cytokine storm after infection with H7N9, but the pathogenic mechanism of central nervous system complications has not been clarified. This study used immortalized human brain microvascular endothelial cells hCMEC/D3 to simulate the blood-brain barrier. It...
• Influenza enhances host susceptibility to non-pulmonary invasive Streptococcus pyogenes infections Fri, 29 Sep 2023 06:00:00 -0400
  Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus; GAS) causes a variety of invasive diseases (iGAS) such as bacteraemia, toxic shock syndrome, and pneumonia, which are associated with high mortality despite the susceptibility of the bacteria to penicillin ex vivo. Epidemiologic studies indicate that respiratory influenza virus infection is associated with an increase in the frequency of iGAS diseases, including those not directly involving the lung. We modified a murine model of influenza A...