Introduction and Biology:
The swine influenza or swine flu is a respiratory disease in pigs that is caused by the type A influenza viruses. These viruses are referred to as swine flu viruses but scientifically the main virus is called the swine triple reassortant (tr) H1N1 influenza virus. When the viruses infect humans they are called variant viruses. This infection has been caused in humans mainly by the H1N1v virus in the United States. The H1N1 virus originates in animals due to improper conditions and the food they ingest. The virus stays in latency form, thus harmless to the respective animal. The longer the animals survive the more likely the virus is to develop and strengthen making it immune to vaccines. The virus reproduced through the lytic cycle. The virus injects its own nucleic acids into a host cell and then they form a circle in the center of the cell. Rather than copying its own nucleic acids, the cell will copy the viral acids. The copies of viral acids then organize themselves as viruses inside of the cell. The membrane will eventually split leaving the viruses free to infect other cells.
History:
This disease was first diagnosed in 1918 and it was referred to as the “Spanish Flu” or “La Grippe.” To this day it is thought to of been the same strain as the swine influenza however it is still unclear. For this particular outbreak it’s not exactly know whether humans contracted the virus from pigs or vice versa. Either way between 20-40 million people died from it. The first confirmed case of H1N1 in the U.S. was diagnosed on April 15th, 2009. The CDC quickly began developing a vaccine due to the fact that it was declared a public health emergency about a week later by the government. It tu...
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...e of surviving would be the one who has a less severe case of the swine flu, without hindering health problems.
Prevention:
There is a vaccination against the H1N1 virus that is available by shot or nasal spray. It is recommended that those who are the highest level of risk get the vaccination before it is too late. The vaccine is the best protection against the virus. Side effects of the shot may include soreness, redness, and swelling at injection site, fainting, headaches, fever and nausea. Side effects from the nasal spray include a runny nose, headache, vomiting, aches and a fever. Serious side effects may include difficulty breathing, hives, paleness, weakness, dizziness and a high fever. The vaccines are usually given at the beginning of the flu season to those who aren’t at much risk. But those who are at high risk should get the vaccine yearly.
At the time, the Influenza of 1918 was called the Spanish Flu. Spain was not involved in the expanding great war (i.e., World War I) and therefore was not censoring it's press. However, Germany, Britain, and America were censoring their newspapers for anything that would lower morale. Therefore, Spain was the first country to publish accounts of the pandemic (Barry 171 and Furman 326), even though the pandemic most likely started in either France or the United States. It was also unique in it's deadliness; it “killed more people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages killed in a century” (Barry 5). In the United States, the experience during the pandemic varied from location to location. Some areas were better off whereas some were hit horribly by the disease, such as Philadelphia. It also came as a shock to many, though some predicted it's coming; few thought it would strike with the speed and lethality that it did. Though the inherent qualities of the flu enabled its devastation of the country, the response to the flu was in part responsible as well. The response to the pandemic was reasonable, given the dire situation, but not sufficient enough to prevent unnecessary death and hardship, especially in Philadelphia.
The 1918-1919 influenza pandemic stretched its lethal tentacles all over the globe, even to the most remote areas of the planet, killing fifty million people or possibly even more. Influenza killed more people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages killed in a century, and it killed more people in twenty-four weeks than AIDS has killed in twenty-four years.3 Influenza normally kills the elderly and infants, but this deadly and abnormal strand claimed young people, those in their twenties or thirties as its target victims. Such was the case for Jules Bergeret. Jules was a “big, strapping man” who owned a tavern during the epidemic, and on December 11 he celebrated his 32 birthday. Within two weeks Jules, his mother, his sister, and his 25 year old wife all fell victim to the flu, and on December 22 he was dead.4 The virus left victims bleeding out of their nose ears and mouth; some coughing so hard that autopsies would later show that abdominal muscles and rib cartilage had been torn. Victims ...
The Influenza virus is a unique respiratory viral disease that can have serious economic and social disruption to society. The virus is airborne transmitted through droplets release by coughing or sneezing from an infected person or by touching infected surfaces. Symptoms range from mild to severe and may even result in death. People with the virus usually experience fever, headache, shivering, muscle pain and cough, which can lead to more severe respiratory illness such as pneumonia. People most susceptible to the flu virus are elderly individuals and young children as well as anyone whose health or immune system has been compromise. The most effective way to counteract the influenza virus is to get the flu vaccine which is available by shots or nasal spray before the flu season as well as practicing safe hygiene. (CDC, 2013)
The influenza or flu pandemic of 1918 to 1919, the deadliest in modern history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide–about one-third of the planet’s population at the time–and estimates place the number of victims anywhere from 25 to 100 million. More than 25 percent of the U.S. population became sick, and some 675,000 Americans died during the pandemic. The 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, the U.S. and parts of Asia before swiftly spreading around the world. Surprisingly, many flu victims were young, otherwise healthy adults. At the time, there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain or prevent its spread. In the U.S., citizens were ordered to wear masks, and schools, theaters and other public
A few years before 1918, in the height of the First World War, a calamity occurred that stripped the globe of at least 50 million lives. (Taubenberger, 1918) This calamity was not the death toll of the war; albeit, some individuals may argue the globalization associated with the First World War perpetuated the persistence of this calamity. This calamity was referred to the Spanish Flu of 1918, but calling this devastating pestilence the “Spanish Flu” may be a historical inaccuracy, as research and historians suggest that the likelihood of this disease originating in Spain seams greatly improbable. Despite it’s misnomer, the Spanish Flu, or its virus name H1N1, still swept across the globe passing from human to human by exhaled drops of water that contained a deadly strand of RNA wrapped with a protein casing. Individuals who were unfortunate enough to come in contact with the contents of the protein casing generally developed severe respiratory inflammation, as the Immune system’s own response towards the infected lung cells would destroy much of the lungs, thus causing the lungs to flood with fluids. Due to this flooding, pneumonia was a common cause of death for those infected with Spanish Flu. Due its genetic similarity with Avian Flu, the Spanish Flu is thought to be descended from Avian Flu which is commonly known as “Bird Flu.” (Billings,1997) The Spanish Flu of 1918 has had a larger impact in terms of global significance than any other disease has had because it was the most deadly, easily transmitted across the entire globe, and occurred in an ideal time period for a disease to happen.
"Pandemic Flu History." Home. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d. Web. 23 Mar.
Influenza, or the "flu," is an infection that is caused by the influenza virus. It is a virus that generally infects the olfactory organ, pharynx, and it can sometimes spread to the lungs (2007). Symptoms of influenza can be identified as acute fever, cough, chills, fatigue, body aching and, in young children, ear aches. Unlike the viruses that cause the common cold, the influenza virus can cause severe illnesses like pneumonia, especially in those who are very young or very old, or who have conditions such as cancer, heart disease, bronchial asthma and diabetes. Influenza can be spread by something as simple as an infected individual coughing or sneezing, through little droplets that go up to a meter (3 feet) and land on any nearby individuals
Influenza is a major public health problem which outbreaks all over the world. Resulting in considerable sickness and death rates. Furthermore, it is a highly infectious airborne disease and is caused by the influenza virus. Influenza is transmitted easily from one person to another person which has a great impact on society. When a member of society becomes sick, it is more prone to spread to other people. In the United States, every year between 5 to 20 percent of the population is affected by influenza. As a result of this, between 3,000 and 49,000 deaths have occurred per year (Biggerstaff et al., 2014). Therefore, the influenza vaccine is the most effective strategy to prevent influenza. This essay will examine two significant reasons for influenza vaccination which are the loss of workforce and economic burden as well as one effect regarding herd immunity.
Throughout 1918 and 1919, influenza spread quickly in three waves killing an estimated 50 million to 100 million people worldwide. With the best-recorded first case having occurred in Fort Riley, the contagious flu spread across military camps around the United States. Due to the world war, the influenza virus was brought over to Europe where it infected people in nearly every country. This disease would end up causing one of the greatest pandemics in human history, but would also catalyze great advancements in science and medicine.
The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between twenty and forty million people. (1) Influenza is a virus that appeared in 1918 and caused a pandemic. It made an enormous impact that is still significant to the world today. It has pushed scientists to make advancements in the medicine and vaccination industry that continue to grow each and every day. Influenza may be a horrible thing, but without it we wouldn’t be where we are today.
The disease gets its name not from the country where it first appeared but from the country where it was first widely reported. The Spanish were not involved in World War One. They were not censoring their newsprint as heavily as those in countries involved in the war. When Spain was hit hard by the disease it became associated with the “Spanish flu”. The Spanish king himself contracted the flu. (History 2013) There are conflicting reports about where the disease originated. One commonly held belief is that it originated in a military camp in Kansas where soldiers were trained before being sent around the world to fight. The second wave commenced in three port cities in three countries; this second wave was a deadly evolution of the first wave and began the deadly phase of the pandemic. (The Great Pandemic)
“Seasonal Flu Shot.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA.gov, 21 Sept. 2011. Web. 19 Jan. 2012
In order to decide whether or not the swine flu vaccine is completely necessary, one must first gain a better understanding of the topic. It is a scientifically known fact that the swine flu is a result of a virus. A virus is a capsule of genetic material that causes infection in the body. The infectious particles are made up of nucleic acid enclosed in a protein shell, called a capsid. It cannot be considered a living organism like the disease causing agent of bacteria, because it does not carry out all the characteristics of life. Specifically, it cannot reproduce on its own.
The Flu is the common name influenza which is a virus that attacks the respiratory system. The flu virus releases its genetic information into the cells nucleus to replicate itself. When the cell dies, those copies are released and they affect other cells throughout the rest of the body. With that happening the virus weakens the immune system. When your sick with the flu, your body builds up a defense by making antibodies against it. The flu virus spreads through air when a person coughs, sneezes, or speaks.
According to the Swine flu investigation team on April 15 and April 17, 2009, novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV) was isolated from two epidemiologically unlinked patients in the United States. The same strain was identified in other countries such as Mexico and Canada. In the United States 60% of patients were 18 years of age or younger suggesting that the younger population was more susceptible to the transmission of S-OIV or the possibility that the older population had developed a small amount of antibodies from the 1976 swine influenza vaccine (H1N1). 18% of the patients had recently traveled to Mexico, and 16% were identified from school outbreaks. (France, Jackson & Schrag, 2010) The most common presenting symptoms were fever (94% of patients), cough (92%), and sore throat (66%); 25% of patients had diarrhea, and 25% were experiencing emesis. Therefore, the criteria characterizing the S-OIV infection are comparable to the ...