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Publications and Resources

Educational influenza resources

Use the following resources to support your knowledge of influenza and learn more about the options available for its treatment and prevention.

To view these resources, you will need to have Adobe® Acrobat® Reader™ plug-in installed in your browser. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, follow the link to download a free copy.

A number of short educational films are provided on influenza viruses and Tamiflu. To view the films, you will require Flash5 or Quicktime5 to be installed on your computer. These applications can downloaded for free at the links above.

Films

An introduction to influenza
This film illustrates how the influenza virus is spread and how it causes its associated symptoms.

What causes influenza?
This film shows how the influenza virus infects cells and spreads through the body.

Diagnosis of influenza
This film describes the timing and symptoms of influenza. It also gives an insight into how national surveillance programmes track the spread of the disease.

Adaptability of influenza viruses
This film shows how influenza viruses change each year, and what this means for vaccine development.

Treatments of influenza
This film shows how new treatments reduce the severity of symptoms of influenza and decrease the length of time people are ill.

Tamiflu mechanism of action
This film is an interactive display of the unique mode of action of Tamiflu.

Other resources

Diagnosis of Influenza
This resource has been designed to reinforce clinical skills to recognise influenza and to facilitate appropriate empiric therapy and maintain patient care. It contains practical information about the key symptoms of influenza infection and how they can be differentiated from those associated with other respiratory conditions, influenza surveillance activities and diagnostic tests that are available.

Diagnostic tool
An interactive tool is available to assist you in the diagnosis of influenza. You can download this simple programme, which will provide guidance on the likelihood of influenza according to the age of the patient, the presence of key symptoms and the state of the influenza epidemic.

Selective neuraminidase inhibitors: a novel mechanism of action
This resource contains information about the influenza virus and the selective mode of action of neuraminidase inhibitors.

  • "I would describe flu as something that makes you feel very, very ill. You get a headache, aching bones, and are generally fed up"
  • "When I get flu symptoms I feel like a train has run over me"
  • "I felt very sick and, during the first week, I had high temperature. Flu was very different to a cold. I went back to work after two and a half weeks. Then I suffered a setback for another week"
  • "I run a guesthouse; flu would be a real pest for me. I couldn’t cook, I shouldn’t cook, and I wouldn’t cook, so I would need to get a lot of extra help in. It would cost me a lot more money. So flu’s a real problem, a right downturn"
  • "I work on my own and when I can’t work, I have to try not to infect my little children, so they avoid getting the flu as well"
  • "I feel a little numb, like I’m in another dimension. Because in general I have sore throat, headache, I feel all clogged-up. Usually a sensation like I’m floating in the air"
  • "Shivers, sweats, makes you ache. Last time I had flu I was off for two weeks"
  • "I think that I would probably be concerned that I would pass flu onto my children, who might not be able to deal with it as well as I would"
  • "Flu makes you feel like you’ve been hit over the head with a baseball bat. You don’t feel like you can get yourself out of bed as all your energy is drawn from you"
  • "I was incapable of working. It just wasn’t possible at all… and my flu dragged on for more than a week"
  • "I have no strength. It annoys me because I can do nothing, it seems like I’m wasting my time"
  • "Flu’s like being hit by a truck because you feel completely gone. There is no energy left in your body. You are suffering from high temperature. You’re sweating a lot and you feel really unwell"
  • "First of all infinite tiredness, then I feel like sleeping and don’t want to eat"
  • "I felt really miserable because my muscles and my bones were aching. Well, I can hardly describe it, I just felt really awful, absolutely miserable"
  • "It’s like there’s something huge treading on your head, like a deafening noise that destroys the eardrums"
  • "The fever was constantly rising – I immediately measured my temperature as soon as I got home. It was 41°C and it kept rising and I was wondering what’s going on. I was really scared! Everything was hurting and it all happened so fast. Flu came out of the blue"
  • "I always feel like my limbs have iron weights tied to them and I’m going to fall over any minute, a really stuffy runny nose and feel antisocial"
  • "I was totally dependent on others! I was incapable of doing anything at all"
  • "The real flu knocks you for six – you just don’t want to move or do anything. It’s not very nice"
  • "Not being able to go to work. Not being able to do the things I have to do at home and the commitments that I have day by day"