Managing suspected influenza

Continuing Professional Development Module: Influenza or ‘the flu’ is generally a selflimiting acute viral illness. However,it can also be severe and fatal. In 2019, there were 308,847 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza in Australia. Many more cases went unconfirmed. A total of 3,915 individuals were hospitalised and 812 died from influenza. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates globally, that annual epidemics of influenza cause approximately 1 billion infections, 3–5 million severe infections and between 290,000 and 650,000 deaths. Prevention and control of suspected and diagnosed influenza are key to reducing its disease burden.