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The Influenza virus was first identified by Wilson Smith, Christopher Andrews, and Patrick Laidrow by finding a suitable host for propagation.

Case definition:
Found from WHO:
"A sudden onset of fever, a temperature >38°C and cough or sore throat in the absence of another diagnosis."

Influenza is an epidemic because cases are mostly concentrated in certain areas rather than others.

Historical impact: ~350,000 worldwide deaths per year, cost of influenza in the US exceeds $1 billion each year

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The first inactivated flu vaccine was developed by Thomas Francis Jr. and Jonas Salk at the University of Michigan, supported by the U.S. Army.

The vaccine used fertilized chicken eggs in a method used to produce most flu vaccines today.

Flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop around two weeks after vaccination, providing protection against the flu with viruses used to make the vaccine.

The influenza vaccine was developed to protect against the disease and to reach a high vaccination rate to build herd immunity, and protect unvaccinated people.

The flu vaccination prevented about 7.5 million illnesses, 3.7 million flu-related medical visits, 105,000 flu-related hospitalizations, and 6,300 flu-related deaths in the 2019-2020 season.

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This graph shows the number of times getting the flu over 20 years for those who do not get flu shots, graphed on the left, compared to those who get annual flu shots, graphed on the right. As shown by the data, there is a clear decrease in flu cases from those who take the annual vaccine compared to those who don't.

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Schoenbaum, Stephen C. “Economic Impact of Influenza.” The American Journal of Medicine, www.amjmed.com/article/0002-9343(87)90557-2/abstract.

“Influenza Historic Timeline.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 Jan. 2019, www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/pandemic-timeline-1930-and-beyond.htm#:~:text=1940s,produce%20most%20flu%20vaccines%20today.

“Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Dec. 2020, www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/keyfacts.htm.

Scholarly Articles:
Gerdil, Catherine. “The Annual Production Cycle for Influenza Vaccine.” Vaccine, Elsevier, 5 Feb. 2003, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X03000719.

Wilde JA, McMillan JA, Serwint J, Butta J, O'Riordan MA, Steinhoff MC. Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccine in Health Care Professionals: A Randomized Trial. JAMA. 1999;281(10):908–913. doi:10.1001/jama.281.10.908