Seasonal Influenza a (H3N2) Virus Infections [Wednesday, August 04, 2010, 19:55 EDT (7:55 PM EDT)]

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.). Health Alert Network (HAN)
• Description:
  Wednesday, August 04, 2010, 19:55 EDT (7:55 PM EDT)
  
  CDCHAN-00316-2010-08-04-ADV-N
  
  Influenza A (H3N2) virus infections have been recently detected in people in a number of states across the U.S., including two small localized outbreaks. Sporadic cases of influenza and localized summer outbreaks from seasonal influenza viruses are detected each summer. Clinicians are reminded to consider influenza as a possible diagnosis when evaluating patients with acute respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia, even during the summer months. Treatment decisions should not be made on the basis of a negative rapid influenza diagnostic test result since the test has only moderate sensitivity. False positive results also can occur, particularly at times when overall influenza prevalence is low. For patients for whom laboratory confirmation is desired, or to confirm initial influenza cases in a community in which cases have been tested by rapid influenza diagnostic tests, it is recommended that reverse transcriptase -polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and/or viral culture is utilized. Clinicians should use empirical treatment with influenza antiviral medications for persons hospitalized with suspected influenza, and for suspected influenza infection of any severity in high-risk individuals, regardless of influenza immunization status. Early initiation of treatment provides more optimal clinical responses, although treatment of moderate, severe, or progressive disease begun after 48 hours of symptoms can still provide benefit.
  
  
• Content Notes:
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  Health Alert: Requires immediate action or attention, highest level of importance.
  
  Health Advisory: May not require immediate action; provides important information for a specific incident or situation.
  
  Health Update: Unlikely to require immediate action; provides updated information regarding an incident or situation.
  
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• Subjects:
  Influenza, Human Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype Seasons
• Keywords:
  HAN Health Alert Network
• Source:
  HAN ; 316
• Series:
  Health Alert Network
• Subseries:
  CDC Health Advisory
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Alert
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Rights:
  Public Domain
• Pages in Document:
  3 unnumbered pages
• Issue:
  00316
• Collection(s):
  Health Alert Network (HAN)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9448f223c9af6ebf323322fef88e93b5e1663e4bb9d93b99d2f60356ac00cbd7f72da04da1f19b8184d22fc634791231401818a54429f6ce8bdb863db3cd16ea
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/25225/cdc_25225_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 697.06 KB ]