Essay on Avian Influenza: Type A Virus Infection in Humans

According to Center for Disease Control (CDC), influenza viruses are divided into three types, designated as A, B, and C. Influenza type C usually only causes either very mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. Types A and B, however, are responsible for epidemics of respiratory illnesses that can result in hospitalization, or even death. Influenza is constantly changing over time by mutations. This continual change allows the virus to evade the antibodies that were meant to kill it. A host infected with influenza virus develops antibodies against that virus; as the virus changes, the "first" antibody no longer recognizes the "newer" virus and infection can occur because the host does not recognize the new flu virus as a problem until the infection is well under way. The first antibody developed may, in some instances, provide partial protection against infection with a new influenza virus. According to Medicine Net.com, In 2009, almost all individuals had no antibodies that could recognize the novel H1N1 virus immediately. It quickly spread throughout the world so fast that the WHO declared this new flu strain (termed novel H1N1 influenza A swine flu). There are currently four main strains of influenza circulating worldwide. Three of the viruses are type A, and one is type B. Type A viruses are divided into subtypes based on the differences in two viral proteins called hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). The three subtypes of influenza A are A(H1N1), A(H3N2), and A(H5N1). The reason for several strands of type A are because of the two kinds of change influenza A

Every year, millions of people start talking about the influenza virus and getting their vaccines as the flu season approaches, which starts around the October-November period and reaches its peak between December and March. Therefore, public health officials around the world- and in the U.S in particular- are constantly challenged by properly preparing for the annual influenza dilemma, given that this viruses, and other respiratory viruses, are a serious health threat to the U.S population and the world as a whole. Furthermore, what makes the influenza virus even more challenging to control is that it can mutate rapidly and reassort to form new strains, having the ability to reside in multiple animal hosts. In fact, many scientists and researchers have been doing in-depth intensive research so as to understand the mechanism behind this unique characteristic of the virus, try to find new ways to control it, and explore different areas of protection and vaccination.

Influenza is not a deadly virus and does have a vaccination. One of the three types of influenza, type C, “type C infections cause a mild respiratory illness and are not thought to cause epidemics” (Types of Influenza Viruses). The other two types of influenza viruses type“ A and B viruses cause seasonal epidemics” and happen mostly when winter hits (Types of Influenza

There are there types of influenza A and C or the most severe types and B which is the most common, Luckily not the to severe. The virus works by first attaching to the outside of a host cell. It injects its RNA into the cell. Unfortunately our cells treat the RNA like they should. It translates the viral genes using the cell’s ribosomes and enzymes. Now the virus can take the cell over and use it to reproduce more viruses. Sooner or later it releases the new nauseating viruses and they search for another cell to raid.

Avian influenza is a disease that has been wreaking havoc on human populations since the 16th century. With the recent outbreak in 1997 of a new H5N1 avian flu subtype, the world has begun preparing for a pandemic by looking upon its past affects. In the 20th Century, the world witnessed three pandemics in the years of 1918, 1957, and 1968. In 1918 no vaccine, antibiotic, or clear recognition of the disease was known. Killing over 40 million in less than a year, the H1N1 strain ingrained a deep and lasting fear of the virus throughout the world. Though 1957 and 1968 brought on milder pandemics, they still killed an estimated 3 million people and presented a new

Influenza is caused by an RNA virus from the Orthomyxoviridae family (that consists of the genera influenza A, B, and C). Human influenza A and B viruses cause seasonal epidemics almost each winter within the United States. Influenza type B infects humans only, therefore it is unable of undergoing a mutation. Pandemics are caused solely by influenza A strains. The emergence of a new and completely different influenza virus to infect people will cause an influenza pandemic. Influenza kind C infections cause a mild respiratory illness and aren't thought to cause epidemics (Duncan, 2013).

In the first place, influenza is caused by influenza virus (Infectious Diseases). According to Mortada, there are three types of viruses, A, B, and C and the virus

New pandemics in humans are usually caused when new subtypes of HA genes are introduced typically from aquatic birds. When a new type of HA gene is introduced, there are no vaccines that have prepared the body to fight off this type of virus causing it to be dangerous. Since these new genes usually come from aquatic birds, many scientists believe that the influenza virus originated in there (Suzuki, Y. & Nei, M., 2001). It is also believed that subtypes of the influenza virus may have diverged from another virus 2,000 years ago and diverged from B and C thousands of years before that (Suzuki, Y. & Nei, M., 2001).

Influenza, or more generally recognized as the flu, is a virus that affects the upper respiratory system and can infect both humans and animals, but generally circulated throughout humans. It is an eminently contagious illness that is continually changing and has three known strains, Influenza A, B and C. While C causes nothing other than a few minor symptoms, its counterparts B and A can be disrupting, uncomfortable and in serious cases, lethal. Influenza A and B can both cause epidemics and pandemics, as well as being dispersed around seasonally. Symptoms of influenza include chills, a sore throat and cough, runny nose, headache and fatigue. This is because the virus infects your lungs and throat, irritating them. Due to the extra white blood

There are three types of the influenza virus: Type A, B, and C. Types A and B are contracted and spread by human-to-human transmission.

All three genera – Influenza A, Influenza B and Influenza C are akin to each other in overall structure. Influenza A and Influenza B viruses are even indistinguishable by electron microscopy.

Influenza is one of the most contagious illnesses caused by airborne viruses. I can lead to mild or severe illness and even death. Influenza can come suddenly and is marginally different to a ‘Cold”. The virus can cause infections of the lower respiratory tract (lungs) and the upper respiratory tract (throat, nasal). Influenza is disease that may cause symptom such as the following; fever (high body temperature), sore throat, muscle or body aches, cough, Headaches, runny or stuffy nose, fatigue/tiredness (CDC, 2016). it belongs to “Orthomyxoviridae” family of infections, “myxa” meaning ‘mucus’ in Greek. There are three major types of influenza that may also be addressed as different terminologies, such as flu

Flu viruses mutate and when they do, genetic material is exchanged with other flu viruses, a process called reassortment. This process enables the new virus to pass the species barrier from wild birds to domesticated animals such as pigs, and chickens. When small changes in these virus genes take place over a long period of time, it is called an Antigenic drift. Seasonal influenza viruses change by antigenic drift all the time as the virus replicates. Generally, the small genetic changes in these viruses are closely related to each other, meaning they share the same antigenic properties and an immune system exposed to a similar virus will have the ability to recognize and fight off infection and building up antibodies to fight the virus. The other type of change is called “Antigenic Shift” which happens once in a while. Antigenic shift is an abrupt, major change in the influenza A virus, resulting in a mutant virus subtype with new characteristics from both the animal and human strains that are so different from the original that people have no immunity protection against it. This problem was seen during the outbreak of the Avian Influenza A(H5N1) and the A(H7N9) viruses which claimed approximately 60% of the of the 690 people who contracted these strains of viruses between

Restate Thesis: Influenza is a common virus that is present in almost every part of the world. Studies show that influenza causes people to be prevalent to other diseases, especially respiratory diseases. According to an article on The Lancet, August 14th, 2009 by Jamieson, the virus caused the widespread outbreak of respiratory infection

With a huge number of victims, 80 to 100 million, since 1918, the influenza is considered as one of the most pandemic diseases ever. There are three types of influenza virus: influenza virus A, influenza virus B, and influenza virus c. These are a subtypes of the virus family orthomyx-oviride. The types B and C do not cause pandemic diseases while type A does. The type A classified into three main subtype H1.N1, H1.N2, and H3.N2. The (H.N) refers to the two kinds of proteins on the surface of the virus (hemagglutinin and neuraminidase). The difference in numbers is due to the difference in protein variability. A H1.N1 virus which is widely known as Spanish flu is the only type that can transmit from human to human. The H5.N1, or “bird flu”