Influenza

Influenza (the flu) is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccination each year. Every year in the United States, on average 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu; more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and; about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes. Some people, such as older people, young children, and people with certain health conditions, are at high risk for serious flu complications.

Types of Influenza

Influenza is caused by three types of RNA viruses called influenza types A, B and C, which all belong to the family Orthomyxoviridae.

Influenza Prognosis

Influenza Research

Influenza Epidemiology

Influenza Immunization

Influenza Symptoms

Should I get the Flu Shot?

Influenza Treatments

Influenza Pandemics

Influenza Infection in Animals

Latest Influenza News and Research

Vaccines are helping older people more than we knew

Let's be clear: The primary reason to be vaccinated against shingles is that two shots provide at least 90% protection against a painful, blistering disease that a third of Americans will suffer in their lifetimes, one that can cause lingering nerve pain and other nasty long-term consequences.

14 Jan 2026

Gut bacteria protect mice from deadly secondary pneumonia after influenza

Select gut bacteria protect mice against post-influenza virus secondary bacterial pneumonia, according to a study published by researchers in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.

12 Jan 2026

How pandemic viruses spread across U.S. cities before anyone notices

Researchers reconstruct the spatial spread of pandemic respiratory viruses across metropolitan areas throughout the United States

12 Jan 2026

Aptamer-based biosensors could transform viral detection

Rapid and reliable virus detection is one of the most critical tools for controlling outbreaks, from seasonal influenza to global pandemics like COVID-19.

9 Jan 2026

Study investigates the extent of flu transmission by airborne inhalation

This year's flu season is turning out to be brutal. As a new variant known as subclade K spreads rapidly, a study out today offers clues as to how to avoid the annual sickness.

8 Jan 2026

ICSA 2025: Infection's role in cellular senescence, inflammation, and aging

A new meeting report was published in Volume 17, Issue 12 of Aging-US on December 23, 2025, titled "Cellular senescence meets infection: highlights from the 10th annual International Cell Senescence Association (ICSA) conference, Rome 2025."

8 Jan 2026

CRISPR Cas12a3: A precise tool to halt viral protein production

Across all domains of life, immune defenses foil invading viruses by making it impossible for the viruses to replicate. Most known CRISPR systems target invading pathogens' DNA and chop it up to disable and modify genes, heading off infections at the (cellular) pass.

7 Jan 2026

The CDC just sidelined these childhood vaccines. Here’s what they prevent.

The federal government has drastically scaled back the number of recommended childhood immunizations, sidelining six routine vaccines that have safeguarded millions from serious diseases, long-term disability, and death.

6 Jan 2026

Why intuition matters more than facts in flu vaccination decisions

Flu infections are rising sharply across the United States, contributing to at least 81,000 hospitalizations and 3,100 deaths so far this season, according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

5 Jan 2026

Bat-borne virus linked to unexplained illnesses in Bangladesh

Infectious disease researchers have identified Pteropine orthoreoviruses (PRVs), a group of newly emergent bat-borne viruses, as the culprit for previously unexplained illness in five Bangladeshi patients, one of whom eventually died with unexplained illness.

5 Jan 2026

Advertisements promising patients a ‘dream body’ with minimal risk get little scrutiny

Lenia Watson-Burton, a 37-year-old U.S. Navy administrator, expected that cosmetic surgery would get rid of stubborn fat quickly and easily — just as the web advertising promised.

1 Jan 2026

New nanoparticle vaccines show promise against multiple deadly filoviruses

Filoviruses get their name from the Latin word "filum," meaning thread-a reference to their long, filamentous shape. This virus family contains some of the most dangerous pathogens known to science, including Ebola, Sudan, Bundibugyo and Marburg viruses.

18 Dec 2025

Flu wave’s hidden cost on people with cystic fibrosis

People with cystic fibrosis (CF) are uniquely vulnerable to the flu wave currently ripping through the UK, a clinical researcher from The University of Manchester has warned.

18 Dec 2025

Baloxavir reduces flu-related hospitalizations more than oseltamivir

A study reveals baloxavir outperforms oseltamivir in reducing hospitalization rates for influenza, highlighting its clinical advantages in outpatient settings.

17 Dec 2025

Researchers develop nasal antiviral platform using AI technology to block flu and COVID-19

Respiratory viruses that have diverse strains and mutate rapidly, such as influenza and COVID-19, are difficult to block perfectly with vaccines alone.

15 Dec 2025

Virus shells use asymmetry to control RNA release and infection

Viruses are typically described as tiny, perfectly geometric shells that pack genetic material with mathematical precision, but new research led by scientists at Penn State reveals a deliberate imbalance in their shape that helps them infect their hosts.

12 Dec 2025

Exclusive licensing agreement accelerates PHD inhibitor development for anemia in CKD patients

Insilico Medicine ("Insilico"), a clinical-stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, and TaiGen Biotechnology, a listed discovery-based and market-focused pharmaceutical company, as well as TaiGen Biopharmaceuticals, its wholly-owned Beijing subsidiary (both referred to as "TaiGen"), today announced an exclusive pipeline out-licensing collaboration.

12 Dec 2025

Mammary glands of domesticated livestock and humans could harbor avian influenza

An ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza has affected more than 184 million domestic poultry since 2022 and, since making the leap to dairy cattle in spring 2024, more than 1,000 milking cow herds.

9 Dec 2025

Poor dietary iron weakens lung memory T cells after flu infection

Dietary iron deficiency in mice alters lung T cell activation during influenza infection and leads to memory T cells that are present in normal or increased numbers but have impaired antiviral cytokine responses. These functional deficits are most pronounced in lung CD8-positive memory T cells and persist even under optimal recall conditions.

8 Dec 2025

In RFK Jr.’s upside-down world of vaccines, panel votes to end hepatitis B shot at birth

Recent weeks have brought good news about vaccines, with studies indicating that flu vaccination reduces heart disease, shingles vaccines can prevent or slow dementia, and a single human papilloma virus shot protects a girl from cervical cancer for the rest of her life.

5 Dec 2025