INFLUENZA Essay -- essays research papers fc

grippe, also known as the flu, is a virus that infects the respiratory tract. Although Influenza is not as severe as many viral infections its almost the worst for viral infections of the respiratory tract. Typically, when someone is infected with influenza they experience fever (usually 100 to 103F in adults, exclusively even higher in children) and ca exercises a cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, and also headaches, muscle aches, and usually extreme tiredness. on that point are sometimes former(a) symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea but usually barely in rare cases with young children. One other note The term Stomach flu isnt really caused by the influenza virus.The average rec overy time from the flu is about 1-2 weeks, although some patients do develop more severe complications such as pneumonia, which are capable of being life threatening. On average, influenza is associated with more than 20,000 deaths nationwide and more than 100,000 hospitalizations. These are usually from patients who develop complications and they are usually children or the elderly, although complications can develop at any age.There are three types of influenza viruses, Groups A, B, and C. Only Groups A and B are responsible for causing the epidemics of flu that occur almost every year. Influenza C is different in several ways because it causes buggy to no symptoms and doesnt cause the yearly epidemics. Scientists put out most of their effort to control influenza A and B because of their huge impact on the nation and the world. Influenza type A viruses have two proteins that determine their specific type. Take Influenza A(H1N1) the H stands for hemagglutinin and the N stands for neuraminidase. The current types of Influenza A are A(H1N1) and A(H3N2). Influenza A(H1N1), A(H3N2), and Influenza B strains are included in each years vaccines.Influenza A viruses are very stiff to control because they undergo metamorphoses, making it harder for humans immune sy stems to detect them. There are two types of changes. The first is a series of mutations that occur over time and cause a gradual change in the virus. This is called antigenic drift. This process allows the virus to make a more stable change further still evade the immune system. The second type of change is an abrupt change in the hemagglutinin and/or the neuraminidase proteins. This is called antigenic "shift. It isnt as s... ...uenza vaccines, since the vaccine is on the watch from influenza grown in eggs. The most common side effect is mild soreness at the injection site. Serious side effects such as such as life-threatening allergic reactions or Guilain-Barre syndrome are rare (fewer than 1to 2 cases per million vaccine recipients).Although the virus will continue to change and we will continue to try to defeat it, we never will. Just in the past three years two new strains have been discovered but were isolated and wiped out quickly. Maybe next time we wont be so lucky but maybe we will. After all, its only the flu and humans didnt get this far by worrying about it.Works Cited (I did it in MLA Format so be happy)PReferencesInfluenza A(H5N1). Who.gov. Online. January, 1998.Isolation of Avian Influenza A(H5N10 Viruses from Humans. CDC.Gov. Online. Hong Kong, May-December, 1997.Larson, Erik. The Flu Hunters. TIME. February 23, 1998. Britannica.com. Simao, Paul. Flu Season. Rueters. Thursday March 22, 2001. Britannica.com.Stannard, Linda M. Influenza Virus. 1995. Uct.ac.za.By Grant WadeApril 22, 2001Fayetteville, ArkansasEmail me at Buzbom99aol.com if you use this paper please.