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Peter A. Patriarca, MD

JAMA. 1999;282:75-77.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Influenza virus infections are the most prevalent cause of medically attended acute respiratory illness and rank among the principal causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide.¹ During the past 25 years, excess rates of hospitalization in the United States during influenza season have reached as high as 270 per 100,000, with an average of 20,000 associated deaths and economic losses in the range of $3 billion to $5 billion annually.^2-3 While the effects of influenza on the elderly and persons of any age with chronic underlying conditions are well known,^1-3 mounting evidence suggests that the medical, social, and economic consequences of influenza for other populations may be substantially underestimated.^2-4 Also looming in the future is the next pandemic of influenza, which, depending on the virulence and penetrance of infection, could result in as many as 200,000 excess deaths and economic losses in excess of $160 billion in . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliations: Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, Md.

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