Introduction (.5 pages) Seasonal influenza commonly referred to as the “flu” is an acute viral infection caused by the influenza virus that can have possibly devastating effects on a community (“Influenza (Seasonal),” 2014). Seasonal influenza viruses cause annual epidemics that peak during the winter but can begin as early as late fall and last through early spring (“Prevention and Control of Influenza,” 2008). Influenza infections in the US affect a large amount of the US population. On average in the
INFLUENZA A virus called an Orthomyxovirus causes influenza. Often called flu, sometimes-even grippe. It is a very contagious disease, and it infects many parts of our bodies. This also includes are lungs. A person can get influenza if someone coughs, sneezes, or even talks around you while they are infected. Influenza is sometimes considered serious in some cases but can be prevented and treated. When you get the “flu” in the lungs
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
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
between twenty-one and one-hundred million individuals worldwide (Barry, 2004). Only after the fall wave of the 1918 influenza did it become a requirement to report cases of influenza thus information on this first wave is sporadic at best (Kolata, 1999). I will argue that the nature of this missing data combined with the biology of the virus itself could explain a fascinating phenomenon that cropped up in the infection rate data for the 1918 influenza, that despite significantly poorer living conditions
First I will tell you about the history of the flu. The symptoms of the flu, or technical name influenza, has been around for 2,400 years as stated in the article “Who discovered the Influenza Virus” by Sonal Panse. The article also states that the first record of flu symptoms was noted by Herodotus but the information was not released until much later on. It is thought that the influenza virus was actually started when the domestication of animals began and therefore transferred to humans
reservoir of Influenza A virus (IAV) (Webster et al. 1992). IAV may cross the species barrier from the reservoir species causing sporadic infections in other avian or mammalian species (Webster et al. 1995). These infections impose a large burden on human and animal health worldwide leading to economic losses; In humans, in 2008, 90 million new influenza infections resulted in an estimated 28000- 115000 deaths worldwide (Nair et al. 2011), in birds, in 1999, Italy experienced a HPAI epidemic caused by
loss, renal failure, spastic quadriplegia, cranial nerve palsies, hearing loss and death. The disease starts as a sporadic case in the presence of favorable environment and host factors, which subsequently progresses into an outbreak and then an epidemic (Gorthi et al. 2010). The organism has both an inner cytoplasm and an outer membrane, separated by a cell wall. The outer membrane contains several protein structures that enable the bacteria to interact with the host cells as well as perform other
Influenza and the Elderly The last few days of summer are upon us, the leaves are beginning to change and it is once again fall in East Tennessee. While many are beginning to enjoy a relaxing break before the stresses of winter and the holidays, healthcare providers are bracing for the rush. The rush I speak of is that of doctor’s offices which are over run with those complaining of fevers, aches, and chills. Influenza season begins as early as August and can run as long as in to late March. Those
cause global epidemics (68). This epochal style of evolution of NoV characterised by periods of stasis followed by the emergence of new variants causing worldwide epidemics is similar to that of the influenza virus (16, 69). Although, GII.4 variants were recognized as having pandemic potential from 1995 onwards, the first GII.4 strain was submitted to the GenBank database in 1974 (43). The US 95/96 was the first reported pandemic GII.4 strain which caused 55% outbreaks of AGE in the US during the winter