Influenza

Influenza is an acute viral respiratory disease that affects persons of all ages and is associated with millions of medical visits, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and thousands of deaths during annual winter epidemics of variable severity in the United States. Elderly persons have the highest influenza-associated hospitalization and mortality rates. The primary method of prevention is annual vaccination. Early antiviral treatment has the greatest clinical benefit; otherwise, management includes adherence to recommended infection prevention and control measures as well as supportive care of complications.