VIRAL RESPIRATORY-TRACT INFECTIONS IN THE IMMUNOCOMPETENT

Influenza remains a global cause of high levels of morbidity and morta lity, Older individuals and these with high-risk conditions are most l ikely to experience adverse outcomes, Several recent studies have conf irmed the clinical effectiveness as well as the economic value of inac tivated influenza vaccines in preventing hospitalization, and in some cases deaths, in this group, Respiratory syncytial and parainfluenza v iruses can produce severe illness in the very young, Vaccine developme nt continues, but the most immediate preventive approach involves the use of immune globulin in high-risk, pre-term children, The causal age nt of the regional disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, has been na med and risk factors for its acquisition further defined. This emergin g infection, as well as others which are more regular in their occurre nce, demonstrate the need for good surveillance mechanisms.