Influenza News

Seventy percent of pneumonia hospitalizations were among children aged younger than 5 years, according to study findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Live-attenuated influenza vaccine appeared to be safe for use in children with egg allergy and well tolerated in children with asthma, according to recent study results.

The use of an intervention consisting of technology, education, and clinical process changes effectively increased influenza vaccination uptake in pediatric patients with cancer, according to recent findings.

Border screening for infectious diseases was ineffective, as evidenced by the widespread international transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003 and influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in 2009, according to recent findings published in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

This season’s influenza vaccine offered reduced protection, having an estimated vaccine effectiveness of 23%, according to data published in MMWR.

A bundle approach to infection control in a Hong Kong health care system was a significant factor in preventing the spread of influenza A(H7N9), even among health care workers with unprotected exposure to the virus, according to study results published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

Approximately halfway through the season, influenza remains severe but antiviral drugs are significantly underused despite their proven benefit on reducing the severity and duration of symptoms, according to CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH.

The FDA announced it has granted a waiver to allow a rapid molecular influenza test to be used at the point of care.

The prevalence and variation of the H9N2 chicken virus may reveal insights into the ongoing Chinese influenza A(H7N9) outbreak, according to data recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Influenza activity in the United States has reached an epidemic level for the 2014-2015 season, with national incidence of influenza-like illness quickly approaching the peak level seen in the 2012-2013 season, according to the CDC’s FluView report.