Essay On Influenza Virus

Influenza is an infectious illness that can be spread from one individual to the next. It can be transmitted by means of saliva, nasal secretions, feces and blood. It can also be spread by coming in contact with the virus on contaminated surfaces. Influenza is responsible for an average of 36,000 deaths and for more than 226,000 hospitalizations each year in the United States. (Davidson, 2007-2009, Davis, 2007).

Influenza has many symptoms to help your immune system fight the Flu virus. Influenza has an extremely rare chance of killing its host since we are so immune to it. Influenza is not a serious virus so you should recover from this virus in under two weeks. This virus will attack “mainly your nose, throat, bronchi, and occasionally, lungs” (Influenza). Influenza is non-life threatening.

As soon as the virus is in the body, it uses the hemagglutinin to bind to the cell surface. The membranes of the virus and the cell fuse togather and the capsid that contains the single stranded RNA is released into the cytoplasm. The protein coat of the virus dissassembles and then starts making viral proteins and viral RNA copies. The new virus proteins are put togather near the cell membrane and then bud off from the membrance. Influenza has a rapid onset and pronounced symptoms. After the influenza virus invades a person’s body, an incubation period of one to two days passes before symptoms appear. For most people flu symptoms begin to subside after two to three days and disappear in seven to ten days. However, symptoms like coughing and fatigue may persist for two

Influenza, an innocent little virus that annually comes and goes, has always been a part of people’s lives. Knowing this, one would not believe that it has caused not one, not two, but three pandemics and is on its way to causing a fourth! The Spanish flu of 1918, the Asian flu of 1957, and the Hong Kong

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.

Flu season is upon us and influenza has hit our area particularly hard this year. The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and lungs that spread from person to person through sneezing and coughing. The flu can also be spread surfaces when infected people touch surfaces such as door knobs, shopping carts, computer keyboards, countertops, etc. Symptoms of the flu include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Though it can be difficult to avoid the flu entirely, there are things you can do to protect yourself and your household from getting the flu by following these steps at home. Continue these steps daily throughout the flu season.

Influenza, also known as “the flu,” is a virus that infects the respiratory tract. Although Influenza is not as severe as many viral infections it's almost the worst for viral infections of the respiratory tract. Typically, when someone is infected with influenza they experience fever (usually 100° to 103°F in adults, but even higher in children) and causes a cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, and also headaches, muscle aches, and usually extreme tiredness. There are sometimes other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea but usually only in rare cases with young children. One other note: The term “Stomach flu” isn’t really caused by the influenza virus.

Someone may sneeze or cough and not cover their mouths and another person may come along and inhale those water droplets left behind by the infected person, which will cause them to become infected. Another common route of transmission is when an infected person sneezes or coughs into their hand and touches a surface. A healthy person may then come along and touch the surface then their face, nose, mouth or eyes and then become infected with the influenza. The H1N1’s route of entry and exit is through the mouth and nose. The primary target for this H1N1 virus is the upper respiratory tract in humans. This virus spreads even more quickly among crowded places as well as being able to survive longer outside of the body in cold and dry environments. This specific influenza virus reproduces by the lytic cycle. Once the H1N1 virus has entered the body, it supplements its own DNA/RNA into the body’s cells. This instructs the cell to stop its normal functioning for the body and begin manufacturing the H1N1 virus. This non-living organism “hijacks” our bodies to supply the raw materials it needs to replicate and infect our bodies. Once the infected body cell makes enough viruses, it splits open or lyses resulting in the death of that cell and those new virus particles repeat the cycle, cell after cell until our body begins to fight back which is when we begin to feel the symptoms of the

The flu, formally known as influenza is a contagious respiratory illness that is caused by the influenza virus. The symptoms

7 Influenza transmit through respiratory droplet from an infect individual. When we come into contact with infections, our symptoms can be caused by two sources: the particular pathogen we are victim to and our immune response against the pathogen. The specific pathogens that enter our bodies can directly cause damage to our tissues and organs; certain pathogens can even affect various parts of our body, causing systemic infections. Systemic infections are caused by our own immune response, designed to destroy the pathogen, such as cytotoxic T-cells action cause Cell death in respiratory track. Our immune system reacts to the presence of the pathogen, and inflammatory response that causes collateral damage to our own tissues while

According to History.com, a well-known historical record website, on March 11th 1918, a U.S. Army soldier reported cold-like symptoms consisting of sore throat, fever, and headache. By the noon of that same day, over 100 other soldiers reported the same symptoms. This would grow into the first-known outbreak of influenza in the world, infecting 500 million people worldwide, and killing over 20 million people. Robert Krulwich, a scientific correspondent for NPR, explains the process by which a virus enters your body and manifests into something much worse: The influenza virus first enters your respiratory system by inhalation or other, less-common methods. The virus is then expelled into your bloodstream where it latches onto a cell found there.

(Silverstein: 13) There are three types of influenza, depending on their activity: type A, which is usually the cause of outbreaks; type B, which is linked to sporadic cases, and type C, which rarely causes disease reactions. (Silverstein: 54) The virus which causes influenza enters the host through the respiratory tract, and binds itself to epithelial cells. The virus causes the cell to engulf it by endocytosis, and then fuses to the wall of the endocytic vesicle, injecting the contents of the virus into the cytosol of the cell. The RNA of the virus enter the nucleus of the cell, and spur the creation of new copies of the genes. These genes, as well as new viral proteins that are created in the cell, leave the cell as fresh viruses, budding off the plasma membrane of the cell.

Influenza: By Abbey Stansborough What part of the body does it effect: Influenza effects almost all of your body but the most common parts that cause the most pain are your head lower back and legs, there is different types of pain so it isn't the same pain everywhere. Symptoms: Some of the symptoms are: Chills Aching behind the eyes Loss of appetite Sore throat Runny/stuffy nose Sudden appearance of high fever Dry cough Body aches Felling weak and tired These are the symptoms that most people have and they are the most common but everyone is different and some people Causes or attributing factors to the disease: The most common way to catch the flu is by touch or if you come in contact with someone who already has the flu. There are also many

There are different ways a molecule can be endocytosed into cell. Rust and colleagues focused on two different mechanisms: clathrin-mediated endocytosis and clathrin- and caveolin-independent endocytosis. Using real-time visualization of the influenza virus, Rust and colleagues were able to observe these two pathways in action. They hypothesized that without inhibiting endogenous endocytic mechanisms of the cell, the influenza virus would use both types of pathways to enter a cell.

Influenza viruses are unique. They have the ability to avoid host immunity, therefore causing annual reoccurring epidemics of disease, and sometimes, major worldwide pandemics. The recognition of the variability in antigenic characteristics of influenza strains led to the establishment of a global Influenza Surveillance Network by the World Health Organization. The network monitors changes in viruses that cause outbreaks of influenza throughout the year all around the world. This article aims to explain the difference in epidemiology between influenza strains A and B, and how they are related to previous viruses.