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INFLUENZA Essay

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INFLUENZA

Introduction

One can claim that influenza is an infection that has victimized people from just about every generation that we have known. The term Influenza comes from the Latin word "influentia", first used by the Italians in the 1600's. It is a highly contagious infection particulary of the respiratory tract.In addition to us humans, influenza can occur in pigs, horses, and several other mammals as well as in certain wild and birds. It can also jump from specie to specie as observed in late 1997 when influenza from chickens was having its effects on people in Hong Kong. Because influenza is highly contagious and spreads easily, it has appeared in our history many a times as epidemics. Influenza is caused by an …show more content…

Hemagglutinin is very important for the virus to bind to animal cells, for example, a human red blood cell. This causes agglutination which is the clumping of the red blood cells. Tests based on this simple clumping of the red blood cells is useful to determine if one has influenza. The neuraminidase is used to cut off the viruses hemagglutinin receptors when new viruses are produced and start budding off. It also degrades the mucosal surfaces of the lungs and the throat to prevent being ejected. This hampers the ability of the antibodies of getting into the lungs.

Spreading & Multiplication

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

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