Influenza

Dominic Bucklin
11/29/11
RSP Seminar
Influenza
The disease Influenza, in its various forms takes the lives of millions of unsuspecting people worldwide every year. The Influenza also known as the flu is a complex and more often times deadly if not treated properly. The flu is a virus that is contagious and is transferred from person to person with a sneeze or a cough.
There are three types of Influenza, Type A which is the most common form that it is seen in. Type A is broken down into sub-types of which are the following, H1N1 (also known as the swine flu), H1N2 (the bird flu), and H3N2 (which has seen a remarkable rise in cases). H1N1 or the swine flu as it is now commonly referred to as, was originally the main form of the flu but was dubbed the swine flu in 2009 because of the swine flu epidemic. The swine flu is just another strain of the H1N1 virus while there are many others that fall into the same category. H1N2 or the bird flu is just as contagious as any of the other strains of Type A Influenza but because it is mutating and changing into different strains it is wise to keep vaccinated to provide maximum protecting from the virus. H3N2 is growing into a lot more cases of this flu then in previous years and roughly counting 36,000 people dead every year from this sub-type of Influenza. Type B is a tricky and conniving little parasite being that it is not as medically challenging to the victims of it but more of a pain to scientists because Type B Influenza mutates and changes so quickly that the flu shot from the year before will not work on it twice so every year scientist have to choose what form of the Type B Influenza to administer through the flu shot. Type C Influenza is very rare but can be just as dangerous as Type A and B and has been known to cause local epidemics. Given the fact that each of these different types of the same virus can mutate themselves into so many different strains that if a person gets the flu there is really no way of telling which one that person got without consulting a doctor. The pandemic during 1918 into 1919 was the most severe case of the influenza currently on record, also known as the Spanish Influenza pandemic. In the 1918 and 1919 pandemic an estimate of 50 to 100 million people on all of the continents of which India had the highest number of people dead of all the recorded countries having an estimated number of 5 million deceased. The U.S.A lost an average of 500,000 people to the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic.Generally speaking the Influenza virus is considered by many doctors to be one of the most puzzling of all of the virus's mainly because it is so hard to predict, if a person just has a little flu it seems almost completely harmless besides giving the person a bad headache nothing else usually occurs, however, it has also been known to sweep across countries killing millions as it is turned into a pandemic.
The average symptoms of influenza many people associate with the common cold except there are many differences between just a common cold and the influenza virus and finding out which depending on what strain of the influenza virus that the person has contracted could mean the difference between life and death. Influenza can generally produce a fever in the patient anywheres from 102oF to 106oF, although adults have been known to have lower fever temperatures then fevers of children. KNowing the difference betwwen a cold and the influenza virus can possibly save lives, which after the 1918 pandemic with 50 to 100 million people dead, it is of great importance that people are responsibly taking percautions for themselves and their families.

Symptoms Influenza Common Cold
Symptom Onset Abrupt Gradual
Fever Usual lasts 3-4 days Rare
Aches Usual Often severe Slight
Chills Fairly Common Uncommon
Fatigue, Weakness Usual Sometimes
Sneezing Sometimes Common
Stuffy Nose Sometimes Common
Sore Throat Sometimes Common
Chest Discomfort, Cough Common can be severe mild to moderate
Headache Common Rare
(excerpt from flufacts.com)
As stated earlier Influenza is a very dangerous virus and the impact it causes to all sorts of things in the human world, is significant. I mean 1/3 of the worlds population was infected by the Influenza virus in 1918 and .5% of the worlds population died it may not seem like that much but entire adult populations in some areas were wiped out no adults as cool as that sounds for some kids total freedom or something like that watching an entire adult population of some distant country is disastrous on some many levels. The local economy would dive making the countries economy go down basically making it bad for everyone. Yeah its only .5% of the worlds population but did you know that more people died from this particular pandemic then all the people who died in World War 1, shocking isn't it. To even think to compare the figures of deaths from a war to a disease and find out that in the four years it took in war still had less deaths then one year of a deadly disease. The pandemic of 1918-1919 is thought to be considered one of the largest natural disasters in the history of man.
The Centers for Disease Control or the C.D.C which resides in Atlanta, Georgia has strict regulations and protacols should there ever be another Influenza pandemic they are prepared. The C.D.C is not just for the Influenza virus its also for any other disease out there that man can actually do something about. Of course we are better equipped now with so many medical advances now, more then we had back in 1918 thats for sure. Current advances in the medical world enable the world to be able to counter all kinds of medical mysteries. Generally the suggested treatments all depend on the patient but ideally the treatments are obviously finding a doctor or regular care physician. Other options include taking Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) although generally doctors tell their patients not to use Aspirin to treat Influenza symptoms. Preventing the spread of the virus is obviously the next step if of course a person has already contracted the virus then the fololowing steps can be taken to prevent further spread, washing hands after pretty much everything is a good start. Don't share food, cups, utensils, bottles and to make sure you get a flu shot every year. Thanks to the current medical progress in the field of diseases scientists have created a new flu shot for the year 2010-2011 which not only takes care of the reegular flu but also helps protect against the H1N1 virus ( swine flu). The flu shot can either be taken the traditional way with a shot in the arm or with a nasal spray vaccination, although the arms don't hurt after the nasal spray you can't help but thinking your going to sneeze every two seconds.
Although preventing yourself against the Influenza virus can help sometimes there are complications from contracting the virus such as Pneumonia, Encephalitis (infection of the brain), Bronchitis, Sinus infection, and ear infections. People think that just because they got rid of the disease that they get off scott free well sorry to burst they bubble but there are side effects to every disease and the Influenza virus is no different, while the virus itself can kill you so can the side effects because the body is considerably weakend by the disease which makes it susceptable to the side effects of Influenza, lots of people have died from the disease but some who survive the disease are taken by the side effects. So many people over look the fact that the Influenza is just a common cold and i'll get better when it could claim that persons life because they didn't think they had to do anything but they do it is a persons responsibility to themselves and to their individual countries, towns, and homes to make sure they are protected from getting this fowl and contagious disease. If we are to stop the spread of the Influenza 6then everyone has to do their part get vaccinated and take precautions not to spread it around if a person coughs they should cough in their sleeve or a tissue or something so it doesn't spread
So there it is how it came, what it does and more importantly why does it kill so many people well one because people spread it around so much it was impossible not to get sick which seems a bit extreme but 50 to 100 million people died that is a lot of people no matter which side a persons on the cost of life could be smaller if we stopped gambling with it and take the precautions needed to survive. While humans may be at the top of the food chain the smallest things can kill us isn't the world just funny sometimes we can kill almost anything as humans but we have such an inability to kill germs by washing hands or coughing into a sleeve. This disease could wipe out alot of people and it would really be bad if we had to loose more then 50 to 100 million people this time wouldn't it mainly because we have the medical technologies to stop it before it does any harm.



Works Cited
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