Seasonal influenza: Introduction

(English/French) Seasonal influenza is an acute viral disease of the respiratory tract transmitted via aerosols or contaminated surfaces from infected people. This course provides a general introduction to the disease and is intended for personnel involved in seasonal influenza outbreak preparedness and response.

Course information

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

Overview: Seasonal influenza is an acute viral disease of the respiratory tract transmitted via aerosols or contaminated surfaces from infected people. This course provides a general introduction to the disease through a short video lecture and quizzes to test your knowledge. It targets personnel involved in seasonal influenza outbreak preparedness and response, including medical professionals, public health officials, incident managers and risk communication experts.

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

• describe signs, symptoms and treatment of seasonal influenza;
• list prevention and control measures, both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical;
• explain the difference between antigenic drift and antigenic shift, and the importance of this to public health; and
• describe the role of GISRS (WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System).

Course duration: Approximately 1 hour.

Certificates: No certificate available at this time.

Course contents

• Seasonal influenza:

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