Is influenza the same as the flu.?

flu is the short form of influenza

yes

yup

yeah

yeah, flu is just the slang.

Influenza and Flu are one and the same. Please see the webpages for more details on Influenza.

both caused by viruses. But,influenza virus is more dangerous than the normal flu viruses.

Yes they are one in the same, but not to be confused by the stomach flu or intestinal flu.

yes the same thing

inFLUenza....um...yeah...

Yes

Q: Is flu the same as influenza?

A: Yes. Flu may be considered a nickname for influenza. Some people speak of "stomach flu" when in fact the ailment is not flu. Flu may be mild but can be much more severe, even fatal.

It is important to get a flu shot each year to protect yourself against the most common new forms of the flu virus. Since the influenza (or flu) virus re-assorts itself with other flu viruses in a host (infected human, pig, bird, etc.) so that it may take on new characteristics, each year a new flu vaccine is created to immunize people against the three flu viruses most common toward the end of last winter's flu season.

However, a few times each century a new strain of flu virus develops through such re-assortment, and currently the most dangerous is H5N1. It is currently called 鈥渁vian influenza鈥?or more commonly 鈥渂ird flu.鈥? It is endemic among many species of migratory ducks and geese as well as, in a few countries, free ranging domestic ducks, geese, and chickens. The fatality rate among humans who are infected by contact with in infected bird or its droppings (feces) is very high: 56% according to the World Health Organization's Weekly Epidemiological Report of 30 June 2006, even higher (73%) for anyone age 10-to-19 who becomes infected. Many epidemiologists expect that this new strain of flu virus (H5N1) will soon reassort so as to be efficiently transmissible from person to person, causing a worldwide epidemic (pandemic) since very very few people have any immunity to this strain, and until this reassortment occurs, is detected and isolated for manufacture of a vaccine, no vaccine manufacturer can make an effective vaccine to protect anyone.

That is why it is important now for people to develop habits that will reduce the transmission of flu virus and to make other preparations to help reduce the huge toll that it can take. The most important habits include "Cover your coughs (and sneezes)" and "Cleanse your hands, preferably with alcohol-based hand sanitizer." The World Bank recently raised its prediction of economic loss from the next pandemic to US$ 1-to-2 trillion.