Influenza

=Influenza=

**Description of virus that causes the disease.**

 * Offshoot of Orthomyxoviruse subfamily
 * 80-120nm in size
 * Spherical shaped
 * Segmented RNA strands
 * Envelope protecting the nucleic acid with glycoprotein spikes attached

**Viral Specificity:**
 * Enters in the respiratory system of host to penetrate mucin layer in the respiratory tract
 * Infects respiratory epithelial cells in the respiratory tract

**Symptoms and progression of the disease:**
**Common Methods of Transmission:**
 * The disease can have an incubation period of 1-4 days
 * Typical flu symptoms include headaches, chills, and coughing
 * Other symptoms that may occur are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
 * Influenza symptoms may not appear in people who have been exposed to similar viruses or had a vaccine
 * Usually the flu would only last 1-2 weeks, but can last 1 month in severe cases
 * Most commonly transmitted by aerosols from sneezing and coughing
 * Can be breathed in if airborne virus
 * Also can be transmitted by touch in certain case

**Treatment and Prevention:**

 * When infected with disease most people are treated with the influenza vaccine
 * Basic prevention can be just washing hands to avoiding infected people

**Miscellaneous:**
Historical Background of Influenza
 * H1N1 virus has a higher fatality rate
 * Three rapid pandemic waves of the H1N1 appeared in 1918-1919
 * The 2009 swine flu is a mixture of swine, avian and human influenza viruses
 * Later variations of each influenza type is less fatal as the original virus type.

**Resources accessed:**
Author: Patricia L Hibberd http://www.influenzareport.com/ir/virol.htm

http://www.microbiologybytes.com/virology/Orthomyxoviruses.html#ortho

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/flu/qandadis.asp

http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=~BH4EgxcnnYT6JYj

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol12no01/05-0979.htm

http://www.historyofinfluenza.com/swine.aspx

http://www.ghi.com/topic.aspx?page=268