What's in the Flu?
Sarina West
Jersey College
What's in the Flu?
During the Fall season, we can expect the leaves to fall from the trees, the children to return to school and the weather climate to decrease slightly. Another expectant occurrence during this time of year is the increase in diagnosis of respiratory infections such as rhinovirus, bronchitis, and pneumonia. There is one type among them that may be considered the worst kind of respiratory infection, and that is the Flu, properly known as Influenza. Some crucial factors that intrigue medical professionals and researchers concerning this viral infection are the same factors that scare the general public such as: how one may contract the virus from a host who is unaware that they are carrying the disease, or how the CDC stated that …show more content…
Orthomyxoviruses consist of 8 segmented pieces of negative-sense RNA, encoding 11 proteins (VanMeter et al., 2010). Influenza A can be found in humans as well as animals such as pigs, ducks, whales and chickens (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 2015). This type can also be broken down into several subtypes such as: Spanish flu (H1N1), Asian flu (H2N2), Hong Kong flu (H3N2), Avian flu (H5N1), Zoonotic flu (H7N7), and several more endemic types (H1N2, H9N2, H7N3, H10N7) (VanMeter et al., 2010). The subtypes are developed “based on two proteins on the surface of the virus: the hemagglutinin (H) and the neuraminidase (N)” ("Types," 2015, para. 2). Influenza A and B are the viruses that commonly effect humans and causes epidemic numbers, whereas Influenza C doesn’t cause epidemic numbers, it may cause very mild cases of respiratory infections (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Sarina West
Jersey College
What's in the Flu?
During the Fall season, we can expect the leaves to fall from the trees, the children to return to school and the weather climate to decrease slightly. Another expectant occurrence during this time of year is the increase in diagnosis of respiratory infections such as rhinovirus, bronchitis, and pneumonia. There is one type among them that may be considered the worst kind of respiratory infection, and that is the Flu, properly known as Influenza. Some crucial factors that intrigue medical professionals and researchers concerning this viral infection are the same factors that scare the general public such as: how one may contract the virus from a host who is unaware that they are carrying the disease, or how the CDC stated that …show more content…
Orthomyxoviruses consist of 8 segmented pieces of negative-sense RNA, encoding 11 proteins (VanMeter et al., 2010). Influenza A can be found in humans as well as animals such as pigs, ducks, whales and chickens (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 2015). This type can also be broken down into several subtypes such as: Spanish flu (H1N1), Asian flu (H2N2), Hong Kong flu (H3N2), Avian flu (H5N1), Zoonotic flu (H7N7), and several more endemic types (H1N2, H9N2, H7N3, H10N7) (VanMeter et al., 2010). The subtypes are developed “based on two proteins on the surface of the virus: the hemagglutinin (H) and the neuraminidase (N)” ("Types," 2015, para. 2). Influenza A and B are the viruses that commonly effect humans and causes epidemic numbers, whereas Influenza C doesn’t cause epidemic numbers, it may cause very mild cases of respiratory infections (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,