Clinical description and diagnosis

Pandemic Influenza

Pandemic influenza is caused by a subtype of the influenza A virus that has not circulated in the human population for sometime, and is capable of causing severe disease and spreading easily from human to human. To do this the virus must change from one that only occasionally infects humans to one that is easily spread between people. There is concern that the H5N1 virus may make this change.

The pandemic influenza virus cannot be fully understood until the virus strain emerges. For planning purposes it is assumed that a pandemic strain of influenza will have similar transmission and communicability as seasonal influenza. This website will be updated as new information about the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the disease becomes available.

Managing patients with pandemic influenza

Information on assessment and management of avian and pandemic influenza patients is contained in the following documents:

• Interim National Clinical Care Guidelines for Pandemic Influenza (PDF 940 KB)
• Interim Infection Control Guidelines for Pandemic Influenza in Healthcare and Community Settings (PDF 920 KB)
• Guidelines for the prevention and control of influenza outbreaks in residential care facilities for Public Health Units in Australia (PDF 344 KB)

Further information about the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of seasonal influenza can be found at Recognising Influenza.

This information is current for 03 September, 2010
This information was issued on 05 December, 2008