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This thesis deals with the problem of influenza and other respiratory infections. Influenza is one of the most common infectious diseases, which affect 10 % of population each year and during pandemics even 40-50 %. It is often mistaken with common respiratory infections, which mostly have a mild course. This thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part. Theoretical part describes the history of influenza and mentions previous pandemics of flu. Further it contains epidemiological characteristics of influenza, deals with vaccination against this disease and we can also find there the explanation of terms such as epidemics, pandemics or between pandemic periods. The thesis contains main differences between influenza and other respiratory infections. The last chapter is composed of brief information of bird flu. In practical part the following aim and hypotheses were stated. The aim of the thesis was to find out the South Moravian region inhabitants´ informedness of differences between influenza and other respiratory infections. I stated two hypotheses. The first hypothesis presumes that the population is interested in the problem of respiratory infections and influenza. The second hypothesis reads: Population does not have true information of differences between influenza and other respiratory infections. To process this thesis I used quantitative research which was carried out by the method of questioning using the questionnaires. It is the most used means of data collection because it enables to provide a big amount of empirical data in a relatively short time. The questionnaire contained 18 questions. I distributed 130 questionnaires, but I could include only 109 complete questionnaires in the research. All results were processed in the form of graphs. After data evaluation both my hypotheses were proved. First hypothesis proved that people are interested in given problem; however women are more interested than men. The second hypothesis was also proved. The research proved unfamiliarity with the differences between influenza and other respiratory infections.