Influenza
What is Influenza?
Influenza is a contagious disease which is caused by the influenza virus. Its common name is the flu, and both mammals and birds can get it. Some people confuse it with a cold, but it is a different virus. Some strains of influenza are life threatening, and some aren't likely to harm. Many millions of people worldwide get it every year, and about 250,000 to half a million people are killed from the sickness.
Where is it Found?
It is found in the respiratory system where it sticks to the cells that line it by a protein called hemagglutinin. Someone who has influenza will often pass it to someone else before they actually know they have it. It gets passed onto others because people with Influenza in the respiratory system cough or sneeze up the virus, often transferring it to surfaces that others touch.
How does Influenza Reproduce?
Influenza reproduces by the RNA, which is viral genetic material that gets in the nucleus of the host cell and replicates it. It then leaves the cell or gets released if the cell dies. Some strains of influenza are life threa...
“I made money rapidly,” Charles Sligh explained, “The demands for flowers frequently were so great that all the florists in this community exhausted their supply daily, and the prices of everything were very high then.”1 Along with florists, funeral directors, and orderlies were also making a killing during World War One. “The undertaker which was half a block away from me had pine boxes on the sidewalk, pilled high. Me and two of my friends would go down there and play on those boxes; it was like playing on the pyramids.”2 Although business was booming for these professions, it was not because of the war. It was the result of an unexpected killer that swept across the world claiming victims at an unprecedented rate.
The Influenza virus is a unique respiratory viral disease that can have serious economic and social disruption to society. The virus is airborne transmitted through droplets release by coughing or sneezing from an infected person or by touching infected surfaces. Symptoms range from mild to severe and may even result in death. People with the virus usually experience fever, headache, shivering, muscle pain and cough, which can lead to more severe respiratory illness such as pneumonia. People most susceptible to the flu virus are elderly individuals and young children as well as anyone whose health or immune system has been compromise. The most effective way to counteract the influenza virus is to get the flu vaccine which is available by shots or nasal spray before the flu season as well as practicing safe hygiene. (CDC, 2013)
Viruses are the simplest and tiniest of microbes, and are made up of proteins, nucleic acid, and lipids. The nucleic acids contain the genetic code that helps them grow and reproduce, but only once they find their way into a living organism. Viruses themselves are not considered living organisms because they don’t have cells, they don’t metabolize nutrients, produce and excrete wastes, and they can’t move around on their own. The remains of the nucleic acid then forms a covering, called the capsid. Once the capsid gets removed, viruses use the building materials of th...
Current influenza vaccines are about 70% to 90% effective in preventing influenza in healthy adults. Since the vaccines are made of dead fragments of influenza viruses, they cannot cause influenza. The strains of influenza that circulate change every year and therefore, it is necessary to make a new influenza vaccine annually. After vaccination, the body's immune system produces antib... ... middle of paper ... ...
Loo, Yueh-Ming and Michael Gale, Jr. “Influenza: Fatal Immunity and the 1918 Virus.” Nature 445 (2007): 267-268. 23 July. 2008 .
The influenza pandemic of 1918 had not only altered the lives of thousands, but the habitual lives of family and work as well. The Spanish Influenza collected more lives than all of the casualties of war in the twentieth century combined. After the disease had swept through the nation, towns that once began their days in lazy, comfortable manners had begun to struggle to get through a single day. What started as a mild neglect of a typical fever or case of chills had escalated and grown at an alarmingly rapid rate to be fearsome and tragic.
The influenza virus is most commonly spread from person to person by coughing or sneezing. The virus can also be spread by touching an object that was recently contaminated. Then accidently touching their mouth or
The influenza virus is an enveloped virus that contains a genome of eight genes that define what the virus is. Everything begins when the virus enters the airways. Here, influenza viruses specifically attach to the surface of epithelial cells. The viral membrane envelope contains the neuraminidase (NA) protein, which is important for the efficient release of newly produced viruses. It also contains the matrix 2 (M2) ion channel that promotes viral structural changes during cellular entry as well as the influenza hemagglutinin (HA) protein, the key player for viral internalization, which facilitates viral binding to sialic acid decorated receptors on host cells, causing adsorption to the host cell (Samji, p. 3). Barry compares the HA proteins to little spikes and the NA proteins to tiny trees that both protrude all around the surface of the virus (p. 103). When the HA protein spikes come into contact with the sialic acid molecules, both structures bind to one another. Once this binding holds the virus and host cell together, the virus has achieved its first task of adsorption. Next, the virus particles are internalized into endosomes by clathrin mediated endocytosis. The pH of the endosomes drops tr...
Influenza is a major public health problem which has outbreaks all over the world. Resulting in considerable sickness and death rates. Furthermore, it is a highly infectious airborne disease and is caused by the influenza virus. Influenza is transmitted easily from one person to another person, which has a great impact on society. When a member of society becomes sick, it is more prone to spread to other people.
Influenza is very contagious and spreads rapidly from person to person. Influenza causes worldwide yearly epidemics. According to World Health organization Influenza affects 5-15% world’s population and resulting in 500,000 deaths yearly. Ottenberg stated that, in United States, an average of 200,000 were hospitalized and 36,000 died each year from influenza complications. Influenza is the sixth leading cause of death among US adults and is related to 1 in 20 death in persons older than 65 years. Disease control and prevention estimates indicate that infections like H1N1 which is one of the types of influenza, have resulted in an estimated 42 to 86 million cases and 8520 to 17620 deaths. As I mentioned earlier that infections like influenza are very contagious, they can spread easily from hcw to Patient and back to hcw. The most efficient and effective method of preventing influenza infection is vaccination(The best way to prevent influenza is with annual vaccination).(Sullivan,2010) (Gregory,Tosh &Jacobson, 2005). Motivated by a desire to actively avoid illness Influenza may increase the risk for death in people with existing heart, lung, or circulation disorders. In fact, the higher than average number of winter deaths in people with heart disease may be due only to the occurrence of influenza during those months.Vaccination provides immunity to fight against infection.To increase resistance to harm by modifying the environment to minimize preventable illness (NEED TO CHANGE WORDING)
The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between twenty and forty million people. (1) Influenza is a virus that appeared in 1918 and caused a pandemic. It made an enormous impact that is still significant to the world today. It has pushed scientists to make advancements in the medicine and vaccination industry that continue to grow each and every day. Influenza may be a horrible thing, but without it we wouldn’t be where we are today.
The cause of the influenza epidemic was discovered in the 1890 epidemic as the micro-organism named Bacillus influenzae and the culprit was first identified and cultivated during that epidemic. Although this organism is found in severe attacks of influenza, its presence may not be located in all cases of influenza, according to The Manchester Guardian Medical Correspondent.2
Vaccines save us from being infected with viruses. They save approximately 2.5 million people from death every year. However, while they help save lives, vaccines still have both minor and severe side effects. This can result in nausea, severe sickness, and in rare cases, death. Every year, 3,000 to 4,500 people in the United States are hospitalized due to vaccine side effects. It is extremely important for all communities to be informed about the side effects of vaccines and what causes them. Also, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that the influenza vaccine is only 48% effective, due to constant mutation of the virus (Scutti, 2017). This means, the influenza vaccine does not work on all
The swine influenza or swine flu is a respiratory disease in pigs that is caused by the type A influenza viruses. These viruses are referred to as swine flu viruses but scientifically the main virus is called the swine triple reassortant (tr) H1N1 influenza virus. When the viruses infect humans they are called variant viruses. This infection has been caused in humans mainly by the H1N1v virus in the United States. The H1N1 virus originates in animals due to improper conditions and the food they ingest. The virus stays in latency form, thus harmless to the respective animal. The longer the animals survive the more likely the virus is to develop and strengthen making it immune to vaccines. The virus reproduced through the lytic cycle. The virus injects its own nucleic acids into a host cell and then they form a circle in the center of the cell. Rather than copying its own nucleic acids, the cell will copy the viral acids. The copies of viral acids then organize themselves as viruses inside of the cell. The membrane will eventually split leaving the viruses free to infect other cells.
The Flu is the common name influenza which is a virus that attacks the respiratory system. The flu virus releases its genetic information into the cells nucleus to replicate itself. When the cell dies, those copies are released and they affect other cells throughout the rest of the body. With that happening the virus weakens the immune system. When your sick with the flu, your body builds up a defense by making antibodies against it. The flu virus spreads through air when a person coughs, sneezes, or speaks.