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Historical Facts Associated With Influenza: The last influenza pandemic that occurred in the United States was nearly 100 yearsago, and this deadly outbreak resulted in about 50 million deaths worldwide.Influenza is caused by a virus, which is a parasite that needs a host to survive andreproduce.It was called the Spanish Flubecause the first human case was identified there. Thepandemic ended up killing more than those that died during WWI. Understandablythere was panic among people worldwide, as influenza was not discovered until1933, so the mystery was rather frightening of what was happening. Those who survived have allowed others to obtain antibodies from them to developother antibodies for future viral outbreaks that may occur with this type of virus. This last influenza pandemic also allowed others to obtain this virus from those whodied as a result to facilitate effective treatments and vaccines for viral outbreaksthat may happen in the future as well. The virus responsible for the 1918 pandemic was an avianinfluenza. Nearly700,000 people in the U.S. died as the result of the Spanish Flu- and those that diddie was due often to a bacterial pneumonia that followed the viral invasion anddamage. Ultimately, this pandemic killed nearly 3 percent of humans infected.Normally, an influenza strain may kill less than one percent of those infected. TheSpanish Flu caused an unusually severe immune response in the human host whichmade it very deadly due to overkill of the cells of this host. The influenza viruses are categorized as A, B, and C. The Influenza A virus is theone that historically has caused pandemics that have developed-, such as theSpanish Flu Pandemic. The other influenza pandemics primarily have occurred incountries in Asia.With influenza, it is understood that the disease influenza is a disease caused by aRNA virus that can infect both mammals and birds. In fact, this particular virus canmutate to where it can be shared between the two life forms and multiply withineach one of them. Unlike coryza, influenza expresses symptoms more severely, andusually lasts two weeks until one recovers who has the flu. Influenza, however,poses a danger to some with compromised immune systems, such as thechronically ill, so the recommendation is greater in such populations, along withwomen who may be pregnant during the flu season, residents of nursing homes orchronic care facilities. Health care personnel are encouraged to get the flu vaccineas well. Such populations allow influenza to progress to deadly pneumonia.Symptoms of influenza usually start to express themselves symptomatically 36hours after being infected with the virus. Over 10 percent of the population isinfected with this virus every year-resulting in about 200,000 hospitalizations and
 
nearly 40,000 deaths. This season’s first influenza case was identified in Delawarein November of 2008, and it was a type B influenza strain. The flu vaccination is trivalent- meaning it contains three viral strains of suspectedviruses for flu outbreaks during a particular winter season, as determined by theWorld Health Organization, as well as the Centers for Disease Control, and otherorganizations. Unfortunately, the influenza vaccine administered last flu seasonwas largely ineffective due to unsuspected strains of the virus infecting others,although about 140 million injections of this vaccine were administered.After giving the vaccination dose to one, it takes about 10 days for that person tobuild up the immunity for the disease of influenza. The months of October toDecember are recommended to receive this vaccine. And the vaccine is about 50percent effective in offering protection from influenza, according to others.Vaccines are a catalyst for antibody production in humans, which protect themagainst the virus. Influenza vaccines can be given by injection or nasally.Anti-virals, on the other hand, decrease greatly the ability for viruses to reproduceonce established in a human. The Avian influenza that many have heard of is potentially the next flu pandemic- ashumans have no immunity to what is called the H5N1 virus- on of about 1 strains of avian Influenza. For an Influenza pandemic to occur, which means a global diseaseexistence, the virus must emerge from another species to humans withoutimmunity, as well as the ability to make more humans ill than normal. Also, thevirus must be highly contagious for a pandemic to occur. The H5N1 virus appears toreplicate in the human GI tract and also has a longer incubation period in humans,one to two weeks, compared with other influenza strains. The H5N1 Avian influenzavirus seems to have become progressively more pathogenic in the past decade,according to others.With the Avian Influenza existing with the H5N1 strain, millions of birds have beenslaughtered due to the danger and unpredictability of this strain. The first humancase infected with this strain occurred in China in 1997. The first human avianflucase outside of China was identified in 2003 in the Netherlands. The first recordedincidence of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus was in Thailand in2004. In 2006, it was discovered that the H5N1 had split into two separate strains. There have been outbreaks of Avianflu in about 15 countries in the world so far- withIndonesia being the worst. Migratory birds spread this influenza virus betweencontinents. The pathogenic strength of the H5N1 strain varies due to constant re-assortment orswitching of genetic material between the viruses- essentially creating a hybrid of what it was before this occurs. So far, about 300 people worldwide have beeninfected with this strain- and about half have died from the infection. Vaccinations
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