Influenza
Influenza is estimated to cause three to five million cases and 250,000 to 500,000 deaths worldwide each year. The most severe influenza pandemic, in 1918, infected up to 50 percent of the world’s population and caused 20 to 50 million deaths worldwide. The use of antiviral drugs can lessen the severity of disease. Vaccines against seasonal influenza are made yearly to defend against currently circulating strains; however, vaccines that can be produced quickly, affordably, and in mass quantity to respond to a potential influenza pandemic in real-time are not yet available.
More about influenza | View resources on influenza
Key resources
Influenza Vaccines: More Options and More Opportunities (2012)
An article that discusses the value of comparative studies of influenza vaccines.
Impact of Maternal Immunization on Influenza Hospitalizations in Infants (2011)
An article that reports on a study that showed that infants of mothers vaccinated against influenza were 45 to 48 percent less likely to have influenza hospitalizations than infants of unvaccinated mothers.
Response to the 2009 Pandemic: Effect on Influenza Control in Wealthy and Poor Countries (2011)
An article that addresses the hard choices that must be made early in a pandemic and explores the context in which these decisions were made during the 2009 influenza pandemic.
Featured PATH resources
Advancing New Technologies Against a Global Threat (2011)
A fact sheet that highlights PATH's work to advance the development of new influenza vaccines that can be accessible and affordable to people in low-resource countries.
Understanding Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in Senegal (2011)
A fact sheet that describes a Phase 4, post-licensure influenza vaccine effectiveness study that PATH and its partners are conducting in Senegal.
Increasing Vaccine Supply to Protect Against Influenza (2011)
A fact sheet that describes a project that PATH is implementing to support the enhancement of sustainable influenza vaccine production in Vietnam.
Page last updated: May 2012.
