Understanding Flu
What's the Difference Between Seasonal Flu, Pandemic Flu, and Avian (Bird) Flu?
Cause
Transmission
Symptoms
Complications
Diagnosis
Treatment
Prevention
Publications
View the illustration showing how a mutation of genes enables the virus to escape the body’s defenses.
View the illustration showing the genetic change that enables a flu strain to jump from one animal species to another. |
Influenza Research at NIAID
Each year in the United States, influenza kills more than 36,000 people and hospitalizes 200,000 others. Worldwide, annual epidemics cause about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths. These viruses change quickly, creating new strains that require new vaccines each year and threaten the emergence of a pandemic form.
The NIAID influenza research program is as diverse as the viruses it targets. Scientists in NIAID labs, universities and medical research institutions around the world are working together to find better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat influenza.
For the latest in influenza research, such as the 1918 pandemic findings that offer lessons for preparing for tomorrow's pandemics, what fruit fly genetics tell us about how flu viruses multiply, and an innovative technique that may help scientists in the field diagnose avian influenza quickly and accurately, see Recent Scientific Findings.
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News and Events
Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Influenza Research (PDF)
Bacterial Pneumonia Caused Most Deaths in 1918 Influenza Pandemic—Aug. 18, 2008
Researchers Find Quick Way to Make Human Monoclonal Antibodies against Flu—April 30, 2008
NIAID Media Availability: Study Provides New Understanding of Forces Behind Seasonal Flu Virus Evolution—April 16, 2008
All Flu News Releases
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