Question

Diagnosis this person.

A 26-year old man reports to his physician in late October, complaining of a sudden onset of fever, dry cough, headache, and body aches. The man states he received his flu shot 10 days prior and must have gotten the flu from the immunization. He also states that he had just returned two days before from a weeklong trip to Hong Kong. He mentions that a highlight of his trip was a visit to the farmers’ market filled with fresh produce and livestock. A culture confirms the patient is infected with influenza.

What is the diagnosis?

Answer 1

A 26 year old man has the symptoms of cough, fever, head ache and body ache. He has received immunization for influenza 10 days back. He also travelled to Hong Kong where he visited a market filled with fresh produce and livestock. All these suggests that he must be suffering from influenza of strain that is different from the strain used in vaccination. There are two antigens in influenza, haemagluttin (H) and neuraminidase (N). There are 8 types of H and 11 types of N antigens. These antigens undergo antigenic shift and antigenic drift frequently. So, vaccines can be developed only after the outbreak after knowing the strain composition.