Title: Influenza- Why Worry?<br/>Author: Jon Mark Hirshon<br/><a href='http://umem.org/profiles/faculty/96/'>[Click to email author]</a><hr/><p>
        <strong>INFLUENZA</strong></p>
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        <strong>What is it?</strong></p>
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                Common disease that causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide
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                                Both seasonal and pandemic influenza occurs</li>
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                                Vaccination can decrease disease incidence and spread</li>
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                                Treatment can decrease disease severity</li>
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                Orthomyxoviruses (RNA virus)
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                                6 genera</li>
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        <strong>Why do we care about influenza?</strong></p>
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                Pandemic Influenza
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                                Can infect and kill young, healthy people</li>
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                                1918 H1N1 Influenza pandemic infected an estimated 500 million globally
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                                                Approximately 20% of the world’s population</li>
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                                Killed an estimated 50 million (may be as high as 100 million)
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                                                2%-3% of the world’s population died</li>
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                Seasonal Influenza
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                                Most often causes severe disease in the very young, very old, and those with chronic illnesses</li>
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                                Estimated between 3-5 million cases of severe illness around the world annually</li>
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                                Between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths</li>
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        <strong>Bottom line</strong></p>
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                Influenza is a potentially life threatening disease.</li>
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                Both seasonal and pandemic influenza are global concerns.</li>
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                Morbidity and mortality can be decreased through appropriate vaccination and treatment</li>
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