Influenza activity has been surging in the United States, and there
are reports of critical illness and death in young and middle-aged
adults. The predominant virus so far this season is influenza
A(H1N1)pdm09, the cause of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Despite many
challenges, there is much that the public, patients, the public health
community, and clinicians can do now to reduce influenza's impact.
The
spread of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus suggests that despite its
ongoing circulation since 2009, population immunity is not sufficiently
high and many people remain susceptible. To date, surveillance data
provide no evidence of significant antigenic drift in the circulating
virus strains, so susceptibility could be due to the presence of a
substantial number of previously uninfected and unvaccinated persons or
to waning immunity from prior infection.
Read full article: Preventing and controlling influenza with available interventions
January 22, 2014DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1400034
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