Pandemic influenza: Introduction

Pandemic influenza is an acute viral disease of the respiratory tract. It occurs when an influenza virus that was not previously circulating among people and to which most people have no immunity emerges and transmits among people. This course provides a general introduction to the disease and is intended for personnel preparing to respond to pandemic influenza outbreaks.

Course information

La version française de ce cours est disponible sur : https://openwho.org/courses/grippe-pandemique-introduction

Overview: Pandemic influenza is an acute viral disease of the respiratory tract. It occurs when an influenza virus that was not previously circulating among people and to which most people have no immunity emerges and transmits among people. This course provides a general introduction to the disease through a short video lecture and quizzes to test your knowledge. It targets personnel preparing to respond to pandemic influenza outbreaks, including medical professionals, public health officials, incident managers and risk communication experts.

Learning objective: By the end of this course, participants should be able to:

• describe transmission, symptoms and treatment for pandemic influenza;
• introduce key pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions; and
• understand influenza pandemic phases and key public health challenges.

Course duration: Approximately 1 hour.

Certificates: No certificate available at this time.

Course contents

• Pandemic influenza:

  This module provides an introductory-level overview of the disease.