(Homonym: flew, flue).
1. Influenza.
2. Any of several virus diseases marked especially by respiratory or intestinal symptoms.

ETYM French.
The influenza or epidemic catarrh, an acute febrile contagious virus disease.

ETYM Italian influenza influence, an epidemic formerly attributed by astrologers to the influence of the heavenly bodies, influenza. Related to Influence.
An acute febrile highly contagious viral disease; SYN. flu, grippe.
Any of various viral infections primarily affecting the air passages, accompanied by systemic effects such as fever, chills, headache, joint and muscle pains, and lassitude. Treatment is with bed rest and analgesic drugs such as aspirin or paracetamol.
Depending on the virus strain, influenza varies in virulence and duration, and there is always the risk of secondary (bacterial) infection of the lungs (pneumonia). Vaccines are effective against known strains but will not give protection against newly evolving viruses. The 1918–19 influenza pandemic (see epidemic) killed about 20 million people worldwide. + prikaži više