Everything you need to know about the flu illness, including symptoms, treatment and prevention.

RELATED LINKS If the sufferings of wartime were not enough, in 1919 Australia followed in the wake of a world-wide influenza epidemic. In NSW alone, approximately 6000 people died because of influenza. Again, the Faculty of Medicine played an important role in fighting the deadly virus. During the epidemic, medical students were used to assist local doctors in treating the sick and dying in both hospitals and homes. Local hospitals were full to capacity and emergency hospitals were set up around the city in places like the Showground. Students were called upon to assist qualified doctors attend to those who presented with the flu. The risk of contracting the infection whilst carrying out this work was high and students were heavily masked whilst attending patients. The following excerpt from an oral history held in the University Archives gives a vivid accound of what those times were like for our students: It was a dreadful time. Very short of doctors. Emergency hospitals everywhere - the Deaf and Dumb Institute, the Showground. I hadn't been in a hospital yet. I couldn't take a temperature but they showed you what to do. We went out on rounds to the people. I suppose we looked like doctors. The doctors were so busy. A lot still hadn't come back from the War so so they had to use us. I worked from a Depot in Flinders Street, Darlinghurst, a church there, then from Woolloomooloo, down the Stanley and Palmer Street brothels - I was only 19. You'd go into these houses and there'd be noone up and about and they had no food. Volunteers used to come with food but they couldn't keep up with it. I got the flu myself but not badly. I went home and to the local doctor. We were never vaccinated that I remember. (from interview with Dr Cawley Madden, 8 March, 1979. Held in University Archives) NSW Public Health Department report that in 1919, almost 40 per cent of Sydney's total population had influenza. In some areas of Sydney, the deaths from influenza accounted for 50 per cent of all deaths.[1] Emergency measures were carried out on campus, such as the wearing of face masks in classrooms and the University was closed for a period of six weeks from May 5th. To make up for this loss of study time, the June and September vacations were shortened and the end of year examinations held later than usual. Students and staff were forbidden to attend university if they had a temperature of more than 99 degrees F and were advised that after an attack of fever to wait until three successive days of regular temperature before return to work. All members of the University were recommended to submit to vaccination against influenza every three months. This was managed and controlled by the Department of Pathology within the Medical School.[1] Next article in timeline: Anderson Stuart dies in 1920 Categories: Faculty of Medicine from 1900 to 1920 | 1900 to 1920 | Historical Overview

In the week in which a Norwegian woman died after contracting rabies in the Phillipines, the diseases are on a list of eight highlighted by the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a report examining zoonotic illnesses – meaning those which have the potential to jump from ...

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The death of an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy who died while in United States custody was caused by complications from the flu and a bacterial infection, the Central American country's foreign ministry said.

Any disruption to the flu vaccine supply pipeline sparked by “new and complex” customs arrangements in the wake of a Brexit, could have a negative impact on its time critical process, with implications for public health, a pharmaceutical company has warned.

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Drawing on her family history, Elizabeth Thomas writes about the 1919 influenza epidemic in Bundella, proving that this was a global, yet intimate pandemic.

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Influenza is continuing its march across the world, snatching life even in places that were barely touched by the war.The great and the meek alike are its victims (President Alves of Brazil has recently succumbed) but it is cutting a particular swathe through the ranks of the poor, who are often ...

Pandemic influenza: an evolving challenge 22 May 2018 100 years after the 1918 Influenza Pandemic known as "Spanish flu" ravaged the globe, what have we learned? New Contributed Photographs Collection/Otis Historical Archives/National Museum of Health and Medicine The Pandemic Influenza of 1918: Remembering the flu that killed millions around the globe 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of one of the largest public health crises in modern history, the 1918 influenza pandemic known colloquially as “Spanish flu.” The intensity and speed with which it struck were almost unimaginable – infecting one-third of the Earth’s population, which at the time was about 500 million people. By the time it subsided in 1920, tens of millions people are thought to have died. There was nothing “Spanish” about the influenza epidemic of 1918, which began during World War I and affected countries around the globe. The cost in human life eclipsed that of World War I: more American troops, for instance, died from flu than they did in the battlefield. WHO/H.Ruiz A modern disease Although influenza has been with humankind for millenia, the virulence and global spread is in many respects a function of modern times. Urbanization, mass migration, global transport and trade, and overcrowding accelerate the spread of pandemics, which ignore national borders, social class, economic status, and even age. The 1918 Pandemic, for instance, was unusually fatal in the 20-to-40 age group. Like many other diseases, influenza pandemics impact the poor the hardest. At the same time, they disrupt the economy and basic social functions like school and other mass gatherings. WHO/H.Ruiz From global problem to global approach In the wake of the devastation of the Spanish flu, the world came together to develop unprecedented scientific collaborations to take on future pandemics. In 1947, the WHO Interim Committee of the United Nations established a Global Influenza Programme to track the changes in the virus. In 1952 the Global Influenza Surveillance Network was officially launched, with 26 collaborating laboratories around the world. Today, renamed the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS), the network comprises 153 institutions in 114 countries. The sharing of viruses and data among different nations is a critical tool in global efforts against both seasonal flu and pandemic influenza. WHO/SEARO/J.Perugia Predictably unpredictable Pandemic Influenza outbreaks have been predictably unpredictable in the years since 1918 – but always global, and needing a global response. One million people around the world died in a 1957 outbreak which started in China but spread globally. In 1968, another outbreak took 1 to 3 million lives. In 2003, A(H5N1) or so-called Avian Influenza highlighted how the virus could pass from animals to humans, but it did not reach the pandemic stage because it did not pass from human to human. The 2009 “Swine flu” A(H1N1) pandemic, started in Mexico and spread to over 214 countries and overseas territories or communities. The world was lucky: it turned out to be even milder than some seasonal epidemics. Researchers are always on the lookout, though, because the next outbreak could be far worse. WHO/SEARO/T.Pietrasik Preparing for the next pandemic with new tools, new partnerships WHO is working closely with Ministries of Health, regional and national influenza research and surveillance centres, and other stakeholders to develop a multi-layered approach to preparing for and responding to both seasonal flu outbreaks and pandemics. Specific WHO programmes include the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS), and the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework, which helps developing countries access vaccines, antivirals, and diagnostics to both prepare for and manage pandemics. WHO and partners are developing a “Global Influenza Strategy” to be launched in 2018. Aligned with the general programme of work 2019-2023 (GPW13), the new strategy will support WHO Member States in developing seasonal influenza prevention and control capacities. These national efforts, in turn, will build greater global preparedness for the next pandemic. Globally, the strategy will focus on research and innovation. This will include improved influenza modelling and forecasting, along with the development of new vaccines, including a possible universal influenza vaccine.

2 April 2019 – Nearly 900,000 doses of the cholera vaccine, procured by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), arrived in Beira, Mozambique, on Tuesday afternoon and the vaccination campaign will begin imminently.

To supplement a special edition of the journal Viruses, entitled “What’s New with Flu?”, influenza virus researchers have worked together to generate simple educational material to communicate their science to school students.