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1/29/18

Medical Alert: Virus looks like flu, acts like flu, but it's not influenza

It looks like flu. It feels like flu. It even puts patients into the hospital like flu can.There’s another virus out there that could be adding to the seasonal misery, but it’s not being identified,

The virus is called adenovirus, and it can cause very severe flu-like symptoms. It’s so risky that the U.S. military vaccinates recruits against two major strains.

“Unless you look for it or you suspect it’s circulating or you are using diagnostic testing capabilities".

“On the basis of the severity of the clinical presentation of some cases in this study, the (adenovirus) vaccine currently licensed for military use should be considered a potentially valuable resource to prevent disease in susceptible populations living in closed communities, such as college settings, summer camps, and long-term care facilities,” they wrote in a report published this week in the journal

An outbreak of adenovirus killed 10 people in 2007. Kajon’s team tested college students at one campus during the severe 2014-2015 influenza epidemic and found 13 out of 168 students who came in for flu treatment had adenovirus infections.

Read more: Virus looks like flu, acts like flu, but it's not influenza

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