...Each year the influenza virus will infect anywhere between 5-20% of our Nations population and upwards of 200,000 will become hospitalized for further treatments from complications. Most cases can occur between the months of October through May among those January and February is the peak months of the flu season. People most at risk of complications are the elderly above 65 years or older, children younger than 2 years old, and anyone who have chronic health conditions. The influenza viruses are a respiratory illness that is a contagious infection that could be mild to severe in most cases but can lead to death if untreated. When you are infected you can be contagious from the day before symptoms appear up to seven days later. Most time the viruses spread from face to face contact with someone who is infected but the virus can also be passed on if touching a contaminated surface and then touching one’s mouth, eyes, or nose. The virus could last between one to two weeks before symptoms subside. The best way to minimize your chances of contracting an influenza virus is to get the flu vaccine each year. The flu vaccine was first isolated in 1930’s and during the 1940’s a vaccine was produced. Today, flu vaccines are available by shot or nasal spray. Currently scientist at NIAID are clinically testing the idea of an universal influenza vaccine that will combat any and all strains of flu viruses but more testing in needed. Hopefully with this medical advancement there will...
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...OF ORGANISM Influenza is one of the most deadly viruses dating back to 1510 causing pandemics and endemic outbreaks all the way through 2013. The classifications of the influenza strains are known as A, B, and C with different subtypes HA and NA. Influenza A virions have close to 500 HA and NA spikes sticking out of the lipid bilayer characterized by 4 main proteins HA, NA, M2 and M1. Influenza type B has quite a few similarities to type A, but encodes proteins differently in the NB and MB2 protein membrane where type C differentiates where the ion channel is CM2, and instead of having two different glycoproteins type C has a multifunctional glycoprotein HA-esterase fusion. The influenza viruses usually have a spherical shape with...
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...The influenza virus, as stated by the Victorian Government Department of Human Services (2004), is a severe communicable respiratory disease that has three alternate types as well as a variety of strains, where common symptoms across the board include fever, headache, muscle pain, lethargy, nasal congestion, sore throat and cough. Other symptoms, particularly in children, may also include gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. These symptoms when severe can lead to potential death. Contributing to its communicability are the reservoirs of the virus. Primarily, influenza is known to be harboured in humans, making them the primary reservoir. However, recent research has evoked suspicion of animals also having the ability to act as a reservoir for new arising influenza strains. This of which is assumed to occur when humans and animals live in close proximity to each other resulting in increased interspecies contact. Furthermore, the influenza virus is in general transmitted from person to person through direct contact with respiratory aerosols and secretions from an...
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...Classification Influenza virus are credited as major respiratory pathogens. Influenza viruses belong to the family Orthomyxoviridae which consists of five genera: Influenza virus A, Influenza virus B, Influenza virus c, Thogotovirus, and Isavirus. Annual epidemics are usually caused by influenza A and B viruses, however generally influenza A has asymptomatic infections even .The general classifications of influenza A include 16 HA subtype (H1-16) and nine NA subtypes (N1-9) the classification is generally done based on haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) proteins which are responsible for the antigenic properties of the virus The circulation of influenza A subtypes such as H1N1, H3N2, H2N2, and H1N2 have been observed in the past century...
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...There are many viruses that has made a huge impact on humans over the course of time, but one of the common virus that was well known in the 1800s was the 1918 Influenza virus. The Influenza Virus of 1918 was a very serious and dreadful virus that is often called the “Global Disaster.” This virus had made a lot of adults and children get very ill or sick and often leading to death. The Influenza virus was most current during the Great War in Europe of the year 1918. The Influenza Virus of 1918 was a very serious and dreadful virus, and is one of the most dangerous virus out during the time of 1918 (Virus.Stanford.edu.) Influenza Virus of 1918, was a big kill threat to elderly people ( 65 likely to die ) and very young children about the age of ( 1 year or younger...and often times older, ) but the flu was most commonly a threat of ages 15 to 65. The Great War of 1918, was a time when the Americans were finally going to war against Germans to win ( Virus.Stanford.edu.) This was also a time were the Americans were in trenches with the worst conditions and viruses developed all throughout...
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... Jennifer Lee Gary HCS/457 March 7, 2012 Reginald Bernard “SWINE FLU” Influenza, or “flu”, as it is more commonly known, is a ubiquitous in the disease profile of any developed or developing country. Many thousands of people fall victim to seasonal flu each year, recovering just as quickly. Only the very debilitated or immunosuppressed have life-threatening squealed. Flu also shows a “cyclic” trend where “epidemics” of flu occur every 6-7 years. In these years greater than an average expected number of people fall ill due to flu but these epidemics last only about a year or two Recently, (or as research shows not so recently), a new strain of influenza has come to light called “swine” flu. Also called pig or hog flu, this strain of influenza causes respiratory disease in pigs, hogs and other swine. The symptoms manifested are barking cough, poor appetite, lethargy and malaise. Alarmingly, this strain of influenza is readily transmissible to humans and causes much the same symptoms in humans as it does in pigs. Origin of the H1N1 Strain The origins of swine flu are unclear. Many researchers say that the outbreak was first localized in March of 2009 in a village in Mexico, when health authorities identified a spate of deaths...
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...reported in Hong Kong in 1997 and was transmitted through chickens. This means that the virus was able to pass the barrier and mutate between animal and man. Since then there has been hundreds of cases and the mortality rate is approximetely 50%. Your risk of contracting the avian flu virus increases if you work with poultry, travel to countries where the virus is present or you consume undercooked poultry meat or eggs. The most recent case involved a 10 year old girl from Cambodia. After 5 days she was admitted to the hospital and after 2 days in intensive care she died (Zimmer 2012). The article states that treatment for H5N1 varies depending on your symptoms but generally can be treated with Tamiflu or Relenza to lessen the severity. These medications must be taken within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms for them to be effective. Typically with any virus the best treatment is a lot of fluids to help the virus run its' course more quickly. There have been cases of Bird Flu reported in Asia, Africa, Europe, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Pacific and near the East. It also goes on to state that the chance for a worldwide outbreak in humans goes up the more the the avian flu virus spreads. In conclusion, the avian flu virus, or bird flu is absolutely a volatile situation that needs to be prepared for as much as our health community can. There was even a 6 year absence of the virus before it showed up again in 2003. It can mutate between animal and man which can spell...
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...physical deformities and had to cope with them for the rest of their lives, even long after the war had ended. These deformities and “issues” had damaged hundreds upon thousands of people, leaving them scared for the rest of their lives. There were also other things besides horrible disfigurements and disorders that would negatively affect any soldiers long after the war. For example, the spanish flu. The H1N1 influenza virus, also known as the spanish flu, is a deadly variety of influenza which was spread around the world by soldiers who were returning from the Western European battlefield. Many of these soldiers returned home only to succumb to illness in the end. Over 50,000 Canadians died from the H1N1 influenza virus. This greatly impacted the country which had already suffered from over 60,000 war casualties, and left thousands of families without a primary wage earner and thousands of children orphaned. The war caused this pandemic to take place, and if the war didn’t occur the spread of this virus might have been confined to one area and not worldwide. One can see by examining this information that the war had no benefits for soldiers and negatively impacted them on a very large scale, making the war not worth it for Canada as a whole. During WW1, the British and the French had to group together to fight for a common cause, but in Canada, tensions between the two groups were higher than ever before. I believe that WW1 was not worth it...
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...1 2 ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Received 22 August 2012 Received in revised form 27 August 2012 Accepted 3 September 2012 Available online 28 December 2012 The novel H1N1 influenza virus that emerged in humans in Mexico in early 2009 and transmitted Keywords: Ethical issues H1N1 Malaysia Mitigation efforts efficiently in the human population with global spread has been declared a pandemic strain by WHO. Here we reviewed the role of ethical issue in the prevention of H1N1. Studies with original data related to the ethical issues in the prevention of diseases (published 1996-2012) were identified via searching electronic databases to extract related information. The role of ethical issues in the prevention of diseases must be understood. This comprises work on how the society understands about a disease and what are their individuals’ tasks to conquer the outbreak. Such understanding feeds into health damaging or health promoting behavior which eventually will help in the implementation of various disease control measures. The promises of ethical issue in the various control measures that may be taken to fight the danger of pandemic H1N1 are great. 1. Introduction 2. Methods From April 2009 a pandemic caused by a novel H1N1 virus has been...
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...Introduction Where do happy cows actually come from? Most of our minds create an image of large fields where cows and other animals are free to roam and graze. In reality, however, most farms today are actually large corporate factories, not the vast fields and red barns that most Americans imagine. These consolidated operations known as CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) are able to produce meats in high volume but have little to no regard for animal or human welfare, the environment, or food safety. CAFOs in the United States are able to produce and process these large amounts of meat year-round by providing sheltered farms for a range of livestock such as cattle, swine, and sheep. However, within these farms animals are confined in limited spaces, making living conditions increasingly unhealthy and unsanitary. Brian Walsh, an environmental columnist at Time Magazine, observed that pigs are sometimes “packed so tightly with other swine that many of their curly tails have been chopped off so they won’t bite one another.” Conditions like these are prime locations for diseases to thrive and spread throughout the livestock. Although antibacterial immunizations are provided to the pigs, the bacteria and other viruses are constantly altering, leading to untreatable infections that can be easily passed onto workers and consumers. Contributing to the threat of new diseases, CAFOs contain massive pileups of feces and other excrements which do not provide safe living...
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...COMMUNICATION ASSIGNMENT TITLE STORIES ON VIOLENT ‘MAT REMPIT’ Name anuar Matric number 791020-11-5301-001 NRIC 791020-11-5301 Telephone number 019-9843040 E-mail address annwady@yahoo.com Tutor’s name: MR TAE PENG HOI Learning Centre: OUM Chendering MAY 2009 SEMESTER PART A / BAHAGIAN A QUESTION 1 / SOALAN 1 State the following variables as discrete, continuous or qualitative. a) Amount of mineral water in cartons. Answer : Continuous , because of it can be obtained by measuring process. b) Unemployment rate recorded in a city as of June 2009. Answer : Discrete , because of it can be obtained by counting process. c) Total number of influenza A H1N1 cases in Malaysia. Answer : Continuous , because of it can be obtained by measuring process. d) Types of available lunch set at a fast food restaurant. Answer : Qualitative , because of it just the name of a category and contain no numerical value. e ) Capacity of a gas container. Answer : Discrete , because of it can be obtained by counting process. QUESTION 2 / SOALAN 2 State the following qualitative variables as nominal or ordinal. a) Blood type of respondents. Answer: Nominal , because of it just the name of a category and contain no numerical value. b) Public awareness level towards environmental issue. ...
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...Ready or Not…. For once, governments and public health official appear to be more prepared than businesses do. They have spent billions preparing for a potential influenza pandemic by buying medicines, running disaster drills, and developing strategies for tighter border controls. On the other hand, a survey of global companies by London-based newsletter Continuity Central found that 72 percent have not even begun to get ready for a potential bird flu pandemic. Businesses in the U.S. seem to be particularly unprepared. In a survey by Deloitte & Touche of 100 U.S. executives, two-thirds said their companies had not yet prepared adequately for avian flu, and most have not one specifically in charge of such a plan. What these businesses might not realize is how they potentially will be affected. For instance, how will they continue to do their business if their workforce is ill or quarantined; if transportation, communication, utility services of other necessary public infrastructure functions are not available or are only available in limited areas; or if financial services are curtailed? How will they earn revenues if the general public is sick or not able to venture out? It’s a scenario with monumental implications for both the short term and the long term. One company that has panned for any potential avian flu outbreak is Deutsche Bank. The steps it has taken include making sure employees in infected zones don’t carry the disease to co-workers, moving others out...
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...The major factor responsible for the recurring nature of influenza epidemics is antigenic variation of the surface glycoproteins of influenza viruses. These changes lead to renewed susceptibility of persons infected previously so that reinforcement and illness may also occur. Epidemics occur annually, although they vary considerably in severity and intensity, the peak of acute respiratory illness causing persons to seek medical care always coincides with the peak influenza virus activity. Evans and Kaslow (1997) indicates that traditionally, the impact of influenza epidemics has been measured by estimating excess mortality, a finding specific for influenza and primarily occurring among the aged and chronically ill persons. However, recent surveys have shown that only about one quarter of patients hospitalised with ARDs during influenza epidemics are 65 years of age or older and that only 31 % have underlying chronic conditions for which vaccine is recommended. The most common causes of acute respiratory illnesses is as a result of influenza viruses, affecting all ages in...
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...• ^ International Committee on onomy of Viruses. "The Universal Virus Database, version 4: Influenza A". http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/ICTVdB/00.046.0.01.htm. [dead link] 1. ^ a b c d e f "Swine influenza". The Merck Veterinary Manual. 2008. ISBN 1442167424. http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/121407.htm. Retrieved April 30, 2009. 2. ^ [1][dead link] 3. ^ Heinen PP (15 September 2003). "Swine influenza: a zoonosis". Veterinary Sciences Tomorrow. ISSN 1569-0830. http://www.vetscite.org/publish/articles/000041/print.html. "Influenza B and C viruses are almost exclusively isolated from man, although influenza C virus has also been isolated from pigs and influenza B has recently been isolated from seals." 4. ^ Bouvier NM, Palese P (September 2008). "THE BIOLOGY OF INFLUENZA VIRUSES". Vaccine 26 Suppl 4 (Suppl 4): D49–53. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.07.039. PMC 3074182. PMID 19230160. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=3074182. 5. ^ Kimura H, Abiko C, Peng G et al. (April 1997). "Interspecies transmission of influenza C virus between humans and pigs". Virus Research 48 (1): 71–9. doi:10.1016/S0168-1702(96)01427-X. PMID 9140195. 6. ^ a b Matsuzaki Y, Sugawara K, Mizuta K et al. (February 2002). "Antigenic and Genetic Characterization of Influenza C Viruses Which Caused Two Outbreaks in Yamagata City, Japan, in 1996 and 1998". Journal of Clinical Microbiology 40 (2): 422–9. doi:10.1128/JCM.40.2.422-429...
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...Influenza July 20, 2014 Introduction Influenza also known as “Flu” is a contagious disease that affects mammals and birds. It is a viral disease that is caused by influenza viruses of the family orthomyxoviridae, which affects the lungs, throat, nose and other parts of the respiratory system. Most people tend to confuse influenza with common cold, stomach flu and other flu like illnesses, but influenza is a viral and deadly disease that is characterized with muscle pains, headache, runny nose, sore throat, high fever, colds, fatigue, nasal congestion, dry cough, vomiting and nausea. Different people may exhibit symptoms and signs of influenza differently, but most children tend to vomit and experience nausea when infected with the virus. Although influenza affects people of all ages, young children, pregnant women, people with chronic illnesses and low body immunity and the aged are at a high risk of developing influenza and suffering from its complications. In most cases, children and old people affected with influenza tend to develop and suffer from other risk complications such as ear infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, sinus infections, and other respiratory illnesses (Emmanuel, 2009). Pneumonia is a common complication that develops when the disease is not identified and treated on time thus leading to viral or bacterial pneumonia. Like other infectious diseases, influenza is a viral disease that is transmitted from one person to another through air. In essence...
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