Influenza and Parainfluenza

Influenza. American Academy of Pediatrics. In: Pickering LK, Baker CJ, Long SS, McMillan JA, eds. Red Book: 2006 Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases. 27th ed. Elk Grove Village, Ill: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2006:401– 411

Parainfluenza. American Academy of Pediatrics. In: Pickering LK, Baker CJ, Long SS, McMillan JA, eds. Red Book: 2006 Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases. 27th ed. Elk Grove Village, Ill: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2006:479– 481

Prevention of Influenza: Recommendations for Influenza Immunization of Children, 2008–2009. American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Infectious Diseases. Pediatrics. 2008;122 :1135– 1141OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text

Seasonal Influenza in Adults and Children–Diagnosis, Treatment, Chemoprophylaxis and Institutional Outbreak Management: Clinical Practice Guidelines of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Harper SA, Bradley JS, Englund JA, et al. Clin Infect Dis. 2009;48 :1003– 1032OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text

Seasonal Flu. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2009. Available at: www.cdc.gov/flu

Influenza is an orthomyxovirus, further classified into three types: A, B, and C. Types A and B are responsible for epidemic disease in humans. Influenza A viruses are categorized further based on surface antigens known as hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). Current subtypes of influenza A viruses found in humans are H1N1 and H3N2. Frequent antigenic change, or antigenic drift, caused by point mutations during viral replication, results in new influenza virus variants, causing seasonal epidemics that generally occur in winter months in temperate zones. Occasionally, influenza A viruses undergo formation of an entirely new subtype through antigenic shift, resulting in a new hemagglutinin or neuraminidase protein, which creates the possibility of a pandemic.

Rates of influenza infection are highest in school-age children during community outbreaks, which usually last 4 to 8 …