Infectious Diseases and HIV Conference

Epidemic influenza refers to the extensive spread of influenza viruses leading to significant outbreaks: a huge public health issue every year. Seasonal influenza epidemics in many countries leave behind enormous morbidity and mortality rates among the vulnerable sections.

This session will attempt to give ideas about epidemic influenza dynamics, its health and socio-economic implications, and strategies for effective management and control. The influenza epidemics occur as a consequence of changes in the genetic makeup of the seasonal influenza viruses, which produce new strains that rapidly spread in communities.

Epidemics occur annually in the cooler regions in winter. Epidemics can occur at any time in tropical regions. This session will deal with the virology of influenza, contributions of influenza A and B viruses, antigenic drift, and how all these elements add up to produce new epidemic strains.

The costs of epidemics from influenza, of course, lie far beyond health care resources, as they interfere with workforce productivity and place additional burdens on health-care services.

Epidemic influenza leads to increased hospitalizations, medical visits, and even deaths, mostly among the defenseless segments of the community: the elderly, young children, pregnant women, and those with chronic illness. In this session, you will learn about both the direct and indirect costs associated with flu epidemics and see how preparedness can limit some of these effects.

Management of an influenza epidemic should include measures such as vaccination and treatment with antiviral drugs in addition to public health interventions in epidemic reduction of disease flow. Annual influenza immunization provides the backbone of prevention methods, designed to protect communities and minimize spread in the population. Others to be talked about are strain match and ways to enhance vaccine acceptance.

Of these antiviral drugs, including oseltamivir, zanamivir and baloxavir, among them is the reduction of illness severity and duration, especially those that may be started early.

The proper use of antivirals, the difficulty over resistance to antivirals, and the distribution of mass antivirals to distressed communities during major outbreaks, will all be covered in the trainings.

For instance, session participants would be informed on how the spread of influenza in an epidemic would be constrained by non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing, mask-wearing, and school closure, the efficiency of NPIs in different epidemic scenarios, and strategies for encouraging the public to comply with such measures. Again, however, would be the eagerness to quickly note and report observations on influenza activity.

Join our quest to understand the complexity of epidemic influenza management; advancing prevention, optimization of treatment, and improving public health response is core in the hunt for reduction in seasonal flu outbreak influence.