Influenza

Essay by tman8709High School, 10th gradeA+, May 2004

download word file, 6 pages 5.0

Influenza, also known as flu, is a contagious disease that is caused by the influenza virus. There are many different types of this virus. This virus is also very contagious. The effects of the virus can be minor but can grow into life threatening. Many drugs can be used to treat Influenza but not to cure the disease. There are also a couple of vaccines that can be used to prevent the virus from harming your body. Many epidemics and pandemics have occurred in our world related to Influenza which has taken the lives of many people. Influenza is one of the most common and most underestimated virus in the world today.

The Influenza virus is divided into three different types, known as A, B, and C. Type A, the most dangerous, infects a wide variety of mammals and birds. It causes the most cases of the disease in humans and is the type most likely to become epidemic.

Type B infects humans and birds, producing a milder disease that can also cause epidemics. Type C apparently infects only humans. It typically produces either a very mild illness indistinguishable from a common cold or no symptoms at all. Type C does not cause epidemics. The type that caused the most infections during the 2001-2002 flu season in the Northern Hemisphere was type A and type B.

Influenza is contagious infection found usually in the respiratory tract. Influenza is caused by a virus transmitted from one person to another in droplets coughed or sneezed into the air. When a person breathes in virus droplets, the surface of the virus binds to the mucous membranes that line the respiratory tract. The mucous membrane cuts the surface of the virus in two, which enables the virus to gain entry into cells and begin...