A New Era in Influenza: Differential Diagnosis and Antiviral Selection in the Complex COVID-19 Landscape

Target Audience

This activity has been designed to address the educational needs of nurse practitioners (NPs) and PAs who practice across a range of healthcare settings, many of which accommodate a high volume of patients who are at high risk for influenza-related complications (e.g., primary care, infectious diseases, women’s health, pediatrics, and geriatrics). It might also benefit other clinicians who are involved or interested in the prevention and management of influenza.

Program Overview

With a growing national shortage of primary care physicians, today’s complex and dynamic healthcare environment increasingly places NPs and PAs as front-and-center clinical managers of infectious diseases like influenza and the global COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic makes these frontline clinicians more important than ever before. Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 viruses can cause similar symptoms, making differential diagnosis difficult and even more confounding to clinicians, patients can be coinfected with both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses simultaneously. The global impact of COVID-19 has resulted in rapid, ongoing changes to influenza practice guidelines. This educational activity will provide a concise, case-based, expert-led review of the latest clinical practices and best available evidence for effective influenza management, targeted to the unique needs of NPs and PAs.

Learning Objectives

After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:

• Recognize patients who would most benefit from antiviral therapy based on risk of influenza-related complications, in accordance with evolving recommendations in the COVID-19 era
• Distinguish influenza from other viral infections in patients based on signs, symptoms, and test results in the COVID-19 era
• Develop individualized antiviral treatment plans that are safe and effective for patients with, or at risk of, influenza and/or possible co-infections in the rapidly evolving COVID-19 era