Influenza As An Influenza Virus

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.

According to the CDC there was a breakout in “1918-19 Flu pandemic, which killed as many as 50 million people worldwide”causing the biggest breakout for Influenza (Reconstruction of 1918 Influenza Pandemic Virus). Influenza originated from Asia and the Middle East. Virtually all mammalian species have influenza. Influenza is a contagious respiratory illness caused by the Influenza virus. There are three types of Influenza: type A, type B, and type C. Influenza has numerous symptoms, vaccinations, and is unlikely to kill it’s host.

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

Describe two innate (nonspecific) immune responses that might prevent an influenza virus from causing any noticeable infection, even if the virus enters your respiratory passages.

Wild aquatic fowl, ducks in particular, serve as a reservoir for the Influenza virus to transmit into poultry and then to humans. Infected birds shed flu viruses in their saliva, nasal secretions, and feces (CDC, 2004). The current virus seen in Asia is denoted as H5N1 and was first seen in terns in South Africa in 1961 (CDC, 2004). The first human seen infection of the avian H5N1 viruses was in 1997 in Hong Kong in a three- year old boy (Ruben, 2005). The outbreak involved 18 cases and killed 6, one third of the confirmed infected population (Rueben, 2005). In three days 1.5 million birds were killed in order to prevent further spread. A new pandemic is now on the horizon with recent outbreaks in poultry in the eight Asian countries of Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam since 2004 (CDC, 2005). As of July 5, 2005, there have been 108 reported human cases of the H5N1 virus with 54 deaths (CDC, 2004). In wake of a

Once there was a virus named Birdie. This virus was a Bird Flu, or Avian Influenza, virus of the subtype H5N1, the first strain of Avian Influenza having the ability to infect humans (Normandin and Solan). Birdie looked like a microscopic pomander, a fragrant orange with cloves stuck in it. Inside, she had eight pieces of single stranded ribonucleic acid or ssRNA. Birdie was deadly to humans, but was not able to spread from one human to another. She could only spread from birds to humans ("Bird Flu"). Birdie started out inside a chicken named Cluck, where she was formed. A little while later, Cluck's farmer Mark, sold his Cluck, to Joe, another poultry farmer because Mark did not realize that Cluck had H5N1. After a few months of Cluck living

Influenza, commonly known as the "flu," is an extremely contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza A or B viruses. Flu appears most frequently in winter and early spring.

It is well known that Influenza was one of the most spread and dangerous diseases in the past. Moreover, it was a fatal epidemic especially in America and Spain, and it resulted in the death of millions in the 20th century. Now, Influenza is not considered as a real life-threatening but it is still a serious illness (1). So, what is Influenza? And what are its symptoms? And how many kinds of Influenza are there? Influenza is a viral disease that infects the respiratory system, and it can be a fatal in some cases (2). Moreover, it has several symptoms and three main types (3).

Around 5 million people worldwide are affected annually by the influenza A virus (IAV), with infection resulting in severe morbidity and sometimes death. Although effective IAV vaccines exist, annual influenza epidemics occur due to its ability to quickly evolve new strains. Therefore, IAV remains a serious public health threat as evidenced by the recent pandemics involving swine H1N1 and avian H7N9. Thus, there is a vital need to develop more effective vaccines against influenza. Normally, vaccines function by priming the immune system to recognize a pathogen so that the body can more easily identify and eliminate it upon a second encounter. This protective immunity relies on receptors in the innate immune system such as the pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and retinoic acid inducible gene I (RIG-I). In contrast, Nod-like receptors (NLRs) sense cellular damage as a result of infection and engage the inflammasome. Inflammasomes are multiprotein complexes that stimulate the secretion of inflammatory cytokines. Recent work by Pang et al. examined the relevance of host recognition of viral PAMPs versus virus-inflicted damage in linking innate recognition of IAV to adaptive immunity. Mediation of adaptive immunity to IAV is attributed to production of interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and IL-1β, cleavage products of the inflammatory cytokine IL-1. Pang et al. provided evidence that induction of an adaptive CD8+ T cell response did not depend on PRRs

Although, there’s no cure for asthma, it can be controlled with medication prescribed. Normally, medications are taken on a daily, or unless it’s needed, for athletes they normally take 2 puffs of their inhaler before a game or practice. Adults with asthma are at a risk of developing complications of respiratory infections, which is why doctors suggest they get vaccinated annually. The Flu short for Influenza is a virus that infects the nose,throat, and lungs, this can become into a severe illness even death. Similarity, Pneumonia also has to do with an infection affecting either one or both lung, this illness causes inflammation in your lung’s air sacs or alveoli making it challenging to breathe.

Influenza virus has been causing recurrent epidemics of acute febrile syndrome every 1 to 4 years for at least recent centuries. The first epidemic report of the influenza like illness was noted in 1173-1174,1 but the first definitive epidemic was reported in 1694.2 The greatest pandemic in recorded history occurred in 1918-99 when approximately 21 million deaths were recorded worldwide.3 it was among the deadliest events in reported human history. After that Three others have occurred in the twentieth century: the 1957 H2N2 pandemic, the 1968 H3N2 pandemic and the 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus (pH1N1). In the recent event an influenza strain with a combination of gene segments not previously reported in swine or human influenza virus

The exact mechanisms of obesity-associated changes in the course of influenza infection have not been established, although the relationship between obesity and influenza has been noted (Huttunen & Syrjänen, 2013). Human alveolar epithelial cells (AECs), as the first lines of lung defense, play important role in avoiding influenza infection in human. Researchers observed that compared to nonobese subjects, AECs from obese donors had higher rate of H1N1pdm09 infections, as the level of infection in nonobese and obese group were 26.9% and 40.0% respectively (P = 0.042) (Travanty et al., 2015). Additionally, an impaired T-cell response system in obese subjects results in an increase in morbidity and mortality of influenza. This results from a

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

A disease that can affect numerous species ranging from humans to birds and even swine is the influenza virus (Kapoor and Dhama 2014). The influenza virus is separated into three genera; A, B, C (Kapoor and Dhama 2014). While all three types of influenza have their own effects on different populations the one that is mostly known for pandemics is influenza virus A (Kapoor and Dhama 2014). This viral strain functions through a different charged sense located in its RNA genome; an area where deleterious mutations can increase in the body of its hosts allowing replication (Webster and Govorkova 2014). The popular subtype that cause the respiratory immune issue is mostly from H1N1; a serious and deathly disease (Kapoor and Dhama 2014). While influenza virus A can cause numerous complications to the human population it is also known for its relationship among humans and mammals (Kapoor and Dhama 2014). The virus circulates among many bird species causing concerns and risks to spread in further populations worldwide (Webster and Govorkova 2014). NEED MORE INTRO

As already mentioned, the H5.N1 is a subtype of an influenza A type. This type consists of RNA. This RNA names as HA and NA. The HA is glycoproteins found on the surface of the virus. This special protein helps the virus to bind to the host cell. While NA is glycosylated enzyme sits on the surface as well. It helps to release the virus from the host cell. In reality, the least pathogenic virus is H5.N1 or (LPAI H5N1), is commonly happening in wild birds for example, in 1983 it is reported that the virus being carried by the ring-billed gulls in Pennsylvania, ( Bird flu (H5.N1) Genetic in news-medical). The virus itself cannot be pathogenic unless some changes occur, which means new progeny. When the RNA of two viruses enters a combination process in the host cell.