Symptomatic treatment of infection by the influenza virus in the context of its epidemiology, clinical signs, complications and diagnosis. Discussion of vaccination and bird flu

Infection by the influenza virus is a disease of the airways that results in annual epidemic crises related to the cyclic mutations of the virus A. The classic signs are the sudden appearance of fever, general malaise, muscular and bone pain, headache, symptoms of catarrh, and coughing. The general malaise is intensely disproportional to the symptoms of catarrh. In people with underlying diseases it usually appears as a decompensation of these complaints. The serious complications are pneumonia and Reye's syndrome. This, sometimes fatal, is related to the intake of aspirin. For this reason paracetamol is recommended for symptomatic treatment. Antiviral drugs mitigate and slightly shorten the process. Prevention is based on vaccination. In reference to bird flu, to date the only reported cases have been of transmission from birds to humans but not between humans.