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Last Updated:
12/10/12 04:19:37 PM
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Influenza (Flu): Surveillance,
News Releases and Brochures |
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Flu Surveillance |
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National flu surveillance updated weekly
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. |
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The Nevada State Health Division's
Office of Public Health Informatics and Epidemiology works with local health districts and
departments to conduct surveillance for influenza-like
illness (ILI) and monitor laboratory–confirmed cases of flu.
This enables public health professionals to: |
- Identify the beginning and end of each flu season, so
communities can plan and respond accordingly.
- Monitor the level of influenza-like illness in
communities to determine the extent of the flu season and
variances in influenza-like illness by age.
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The term influenza-like illness is used
to describe people seeking medical treatment for symptoms
consistent with flu infection: a fever over 100 degrees
Fahrenheit, a cough and a sore throat.
The only way to absolutely
determine whether a person has the flu is through a
laboratory test of a culture taken by a doctor. Since most
people do not seek medical treatment for the flu and
cultures are only collected from a fraction of the people
who see a doctor, monitoring for symptoms consistent with
flu infection provides a more-accurate representation of flu
virus activity.
The few cultures collected by
doctors allow public health laboratories to confirm a
diagnosis of influenza and determine which flu strain has
infected the patient. In turn, public health agencies can
gauge which strains of flu are circulating and whether they
match the strains included in the flu vaccine. |
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News Releases |
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Brochures and Flyers |
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NV
State Health Division
