H1N1 flu vs. COVID-19: Comparing pandemics and the response
The year was 2009, and the pandemic was caused by a strain of influenza known as swine flu, then H1N1. But similarities to the current virus outbreak end there.
Mar 27, 2020
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The year was 2009, and the pandemic was caused by a strain of influenza known as swine flu, then H1N1. But similarities to the current virus outbreak end there.
Mar 27, 2020
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176
Take a vaccine developed in haste? Never again, says Meissa Chebbi, who, like hundreds of other young Swedes suffered debilitating narcolepsy after a mass vaccination campaign against the 2009-2010 swine flu pandemic.
Nov 26, 2020
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As the coronavirus death toll continues to rise, some have suggested that the approaching warmer spring weather in the northern hemisphere may slow or even stop the spread of the disease. US president Donald Trump echoed ...
Mar 12, 2020
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As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to expand globally, many are asking what may happen to the outbreak as winter turns to spring. Other viral respiratory diseases, such as influenza, are seasonal in that cases decrease in ...
Mar 13, 2020
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Scientists at Scripps Research, University of Chicago and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified a new Achilles' heel of influenza virus, making progress in the quest for a universal flu vaccine. Antibodies ...
Dec 23, 2021
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A high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet like the Keto regimen has its fans, but influenza apparently isn't one of them.
Nov 15, 2019
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While COVID-19 cases continue to drop in the U.S., outbreaks of another virus—the stomach flu—are ramping up, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
Apr 7, 2022
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Australia has just suffered a severe flu season, with 299,211 laboratory-confirmed cases, at last count, and 662 deaths. This might be a sign of what's to come for the UK and US as the virus spreads to the northern hemisphere.
Oct 17, 2019
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Emerging viral infections—from bird flu to Ebola to Zika infections—pose major threats to global public health, and understanding their origins can help investigators design defensive strategies against future outbreaks. ...
Jan 22, 2020
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New cases of the coronavirus are reported every day, and as yet there's no vaccine. So what treatments are available if you're one of the unlucky ones who gets infected?
Mar 27, 2020
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Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae (the influenza viruses), that affects birds and mammals. The name influenza comes from the Italian influenza, meaning "influence" (Latin: influentia). The most common symptoms of the disease are chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort. Fever and coughs are the most frequent symptoms. In more serious cases, influenza causes pneumonia, which can be fatal, particularly for the young and the elderly. Although it is often confused with other influenza-like illnesses, especially the common cold, influenza is a much more severe disease than the common cold and is caused by a different type of virus. Influenza may produce nausea and vomiting, particularly in children, but these symptoms are more common in the unrelated gastroenteritis, which is sometimes called "stomach flu" or "24-hour flu".
Typically, influenza is transmitted through the air by coughs or sneezes, creating aerosols containing the virus. Influenza can also be transmitted by bird droppings, saliva, nasal secretions, feces and blood. Infection can also occur through contact with these body fluids or through contact with contaminated surfaces. Airborne aerosols have been thought to cause most infections, although which means of transmission is most important is not absolutely clear. Influenza viruses can be inactivated by sunlight, disinfectants and detergents. As the virus can be inactivated by soap, frequent hand washing reduces the risk of infection.
Influenza spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands annually — millions in pandemic years. Three influenza pandemics occurred in the 20th century and killed tens of millions of people, with each of these pandemics being caused by the appearance of a new strain of the virus in humans. Often, these new strains appear when an existing flu virus spreads to humans from other animal species, or when an existing human strain picks up new genes from a virus that usually infects birds or pigs. An avian strain named H5N1 raised the concern of a new influenza pandemic, after it emerged in Asia in the 1990s, but it has not evolved to a form that spreads easily between people. In April 2009 a novel flu strain evolved that combined genes from human, pig, and bird flu, initially dubbed "swine flu", emerged in Mexico, the United States, and several other nations. WHO officially declared the outbreak to be a "pandemic" on June 11, 2009.
Vaccinations against influenza are usually given to people in developed countries and to farmed poultry. The most common human vaccine is the trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) that contains purified and inactivated material from three viral strains. Typically, this vaccine includes material from two influenza A virus subtypes and one influenza B virus strain. The TIV carries no risk of transmitting the disease, and it has very low reactivity. A vaccine formulated for one year may be ineffective in the following year, since the influenza virus evolves rapidly, and new strains quickly replace the older ones. Antiviral drugs can be used to treat influenza, with neuraminidase inhibitors being particularly effective.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA