RNA virus

isolation of swine influenza; a virus which when administered intranasally to susceptible swine induced a mild illness of short duration.2 The physician Richard Pfeiffer had created the hypothesis that Bacillus influenza (now Haemophilus influenzae) was the cause of influenza during the pandemic of 1892.3 The bacterial…

THE DISEASE: The influenza virus is often referred to as the flu. It is an acute respiratory disease, which if left untreated, can worsen and lead into influenza pneumonia, a much more serious disease that often leads to hospitalization or death. Other complications from the flu are bronchitis, sinus and ear infections ("Flu Symptoms & Severity", 2015). There are types of the influenza virus: influenza A and influenza B, and there are many strains within each type. While the respiratory system…

contagious disease that affects mostly the nose, throat, bronchi and sporadically the lungs. This infection disease is caused by RNA viruses of the family of Orthomyxoviridae and affects birds and mammals. There are 3 classifications of Influenza: Influenza A – Found in aquatic birds which are a natural host and often transmitted to poultry and humans. It is often the virus that is responsible for human pandemics. Influenza B – Is less common than Influenza A. It almost exclusively affects…

It is generally accepted that a virophage is a viral agent that infects other larger viruses. It is a dsDNA virus which utilizes the replication factories of other viruses to reproduce itself. Virophages are essentially parasitic in nature, much in the same way as traditional satellite viruses. It is not without controversy that distinctions between satellite viruses and virophages are described. The difference between the two often seem more semantic than factual and more supported by…

Over 80 years after the1918 flu virus disappeared, epidemiologists still did not understand exactly why it was so devastating. After working with tissue samples from the autopsies of flu victims and the infected lung tissue of an Alaskan woman whose body had been preserved in Arctic permafrost, researchers at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were able to recreate an extinct virus. Then, in October of 2005, they announced that they had…

The 1918 “Spanish flu” Pandemic was caused by an avian-like influenza virus that gained the ability for efficient and sustained human-to-human transmission and then spread globally, killing 20-50 millions. Fortunately, viruses with pandemic potential are rare occurrences and ongoing surveillance of human and avian viruses is being done globally in preparedness for an influenza pandemic. Vaccines and anti-viral drugs may be available, if needed and time permits. Both kinds of therapies have…

undergo an in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure to create an embryo while selecting the physical, cognitive, and behavioral traits they desire for their child-to-be (“The New Eugenics: The Case Against Genetically Modified Humans”). Although, as stated above, the appropriate accountability and oversight is mandated to those who disregard the regulatory reforms by each country. Gene therapy has also been noted that critics view gene therapy as the ability to “play god” which has the potential…

alive by themselves. They require a host cell. Viruses can only replicate inside the living cells of an organism. The virus takes over the cell’s machinery to carry out its own life processes to help it multiply and replicate. The infected cell will produce viral particles instead of the usual products. One of the most recognized and studied is the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that leads acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).…

The interferons and proteins are said to be involved in preventing a virus from duplicating. Apropos, its was found to have a higher expression of Major Histocompatibility Complex or MHC class II molecules, which interact with immune cells in order to initiate an immune response. Additionally, the MERS-CoV disease produced…

many things, including bacteria. When bacteria undergo infections from a virus that virus is called a bacteriophage. After a bacteriophage infects a bacteria it can create two different phases, the lytic or lysogenic cycles. During a lytic stage the bacteriophage causes death to the bacteria. When this happens on an agar plate covered in bacteria it creates a clear spot known as a plaque. Each plaque is created by one virus so from the number of plaques present it is possible to govern how many…