INFLUENZA

INFLUENZA VIRUS: A Model for Learning About Disease Laurie St.Pierre Sandwich High School Sandwich, MA

Understanding Influenza: A Contagious Respiratory Illness Cause History Method of infection and replication Symptoms and diagnosis Prevention and Treatment Current research

CAUSE: RNA Virus file:///Users/outreac h/Desktop/DESKTO P%202008/curr%20 project/Image- 3D%20Influenza%2 0virus The influenza virus, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease of birds and mammals caused by RNA viruses. Commonly confused with a cold, the flu is a much more severe disease and caused by a different virus.

History: Known Flu Pandemics Name of pandemic DateDeaths Asiatic Flu million Spanish Flu million Asian Flu million Hong Kong Flu million Information taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/influenza

1918 Flu Pandemic American Red Cross nurses tend to flu patients in temporary wards set up inside the Oakland municipal Auditorium.

1918 Flu Pandemic Facts: May have killed as many people as the Black Death- bubonic plague The majority of deaths were from a secondary infection such as bacterial pneumonia It killed between 2 and 20 % of those infected; normal mortality rate is 0.1 % It mostly killed young adults with more than half of the deaths in people between years old due to novel surface proteins on the virus. It killed as many as 25 million in the first 25 weeks, whereas HIV/AIDS has killed 25 million in the first 25 years. Information taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/influenza

Street car conductor from Seattle not allowing passengers aboard without a mask in Historical factors may have also contributed to the spread of the flu: Global war moving people great distances Crowded conditions in troop ships

Method of Infection and Replication: The flu virus binds onto sugars on the surfaces of epithelial cells such as nose, throat, and lungs of mammals and intestines of birds.

Symptoms & Diagnosis: Chills Body aches, especially throat and joints Coughing and sneezing Extreme fever Fatigue, headache, and nasal congestion Though similar symptoms occur with a cold, they are much more severe with the flu! Information taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/influenza

Prevention & Treatment of the Flu: Get the flu vaccine each year due to high mutation rate of the virus. Practice good hygiene and personal health habits. Cover your mouth when while sneezing and wash your hands regularly as the virus spreads through aerosols. Since the flu is a virus, antibiotics won’t work unless there is a secondary bacterial infection. e:Aerosol_from_Sneeze.jpg

Influenza in the News: Scientists Recreate 1918 Flu Virus From Scratch By Mike Stobbe, Associated Pressposted: 05 October :23 pm ET Mike Stobbe Insides of Flu Virus Revealed By Ker Than, LiveScience Staffposted: 26 January :06 am ETKer Than Possible Path to Humans for Avian Flu Found By Sara Goudarzi, LiveScience Staff Writerposted: 16 March :00 pm ETSara Goudarzi

Current Research: The Influenza Genome Sequencing Project - creating a library of influenza sequences to study why one strain is more lethal than another. Research into new vaccines. Study the infection in other animals, especially birds.Viral strains between species can occur. Courtesy of Timm Harder Scheme of avian influenza pathogenesis and epidemiologyLPAIV - low pathogenic avian influenza virus; HPAIV - highly pathogenic avian influenza virus; HA - haemagglutinin protein; dotted lines with arrows represent species barriers