The Deadly Potential of the Avian Influenza
Everyone has had influenza at some point in their lives. The “flu” is as common to us as the changing seasons. Sore throats, runny nose, puffy eyes, headaches, aching muscles and continuous coughing. Sound familiar? For the majority of us, influenza is not a huge threat to our health, much less our lives. But sometimes the flu can become very severe, and pneumonia and respiratory distress can result, further weakening the immune system and sometimes causing death. Influenza does kill; there are about 36,000 people in the United States that die annually from the virus. But most of the time, it just leaves its victims feeling rotten and sick for a few days. It also makes one’s immune system stronger. It seems in regards to influenza there is great truth in the statement “that which doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger”.
To understand the intense potential of influenza, one must first understand what a virus is and how it attacks the living cells of its host. A virus is not simply bacteria. A virus is a very effective combination of chemicals with specific form and function. The virus enters the body and attaches itself to the cell’s receptors with chemicals called hemagluttinin and neuraminidase. Once inside the cell, the virus penetrates the nucleus of its host cell and forces the replication of its RNA strand rather then the cells usual DNA. Once replication is complete, the RNA virus destroys the cell’s membrane and all the newly produced viruses swarm out of the cell. They are now free to infect other cells and duplicate in further nuclei. This process kills all host cells, and with a reproduction rate that is from 10,000 times to 1 million times faster than that of DNA, viruses can sweep through a body and kill rapidly.
Influenza viruses are RNA viruses. When RNA replicates, it has huge potential for mistakes, properly referred to as mutations. Many mutations result in a virus that is not formed properly enough to function in its specific manner. But many mutations occur that render the virus functional, and dangerous. There are many different strains of influenza throughout the world. The ones that can infect humans are known as influenza A, B or C. Only influenza type A has the proper genes to cause possible pandemics and epidemics. Each type is slightly different and each has the equal possibility of mutating further. Influenza viruses are distinguished by numbering the hemagluttinin and neuraminidase chemicals. With 15 different known forms of hemagluttinin and 9 of neuraminidase, H1N1 influenza contains the type one of both hemagluttinin and neuraminidase. It was infact, H1N1 influenza that caused the pandemic of 1918, killing up to 100 million people worldwide. It is H5N1 influenza that is now known as the bird flu, the avian influenza that seems to have originated in Hong Kong in chickens.
It is true that avian influenza is not transmittable to human beings from human beings. But it is passed to us by infected birds, through their feces and bodily fluids. For a person to become ill with avian influenza, they have to be in close proximity with an infected bird. That person is then not able to pass the influenza to another person directly. Why is this? Simply because humans do not have the same receptors as birds do. The virus cannot attach itself to our cells, but it can attach itself to that of birds.
Posted in Bird Flu Symptoms, Bird Flu on March 20th, 2007 by BirdFlu | | 0 Comments
Bird Flu Information
The Bird Flu Virus otherwise known as the Avian Virus has been around for years now however the first case of a person dying from Avian Flu was reported in Hong Kong in May 1997. The virus spreads primarily through wild birds such as ducks, in particular. They carry the virus, but are not killed by it. From them the virus can be spread to farm birds through direct contact or through contaminating water supplies.
How it Started
The Bird Flu (Avian Flu Virus) originated from Birds, hense the term “Bird Flu Virus“. Recently we have seen it affecting people. For more information see our Useful Resources to the left.
Are we at Risk?
The short answer. YES. As much as we don’t want to hear it, it’s true. This Bird Flu Virus can spread to humans now and has been proving to be most deadly. In fact this could even lead to an epidemic if not handled properly.
What are the Symptoms?
This is the scary part. The symptoms of the Bird Flu Virus are very similar to the common cold such as fever, fatigue, coughing, sore throat, muscle aches and eye infections. There has been some recent development of preventions and treatments such as the drug Tamiflu. Tamiflu is an FDA approved medication.
Posted in Bird Flu News, Bird Flu Symptoms, Bird Flu on March 8th, 2007 by BirdFlu | | 2 Comments