Influenza of the flu is a contagious respiratory illness that is caused by influenza viruses. The flu virus comes in many different flavors, if you will, and can cause mild to severe illness according to the CDC. Many people die from the flu every year and it remains one of the top human diseases that cause death. The best way to prevent flu, and lessen the virility of flu is to get a flu shot each year.
Flu comes on very suddenly, people who typically have the flu will know within about 48 hours. People with the flu can generally feel a fever or chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue, and very few may have vomiting and diarrhea according the Medlineplus.gov . These symptoms outline the basics of any illness; therefore, it is important to go get tested for the flu if you feel any of them symptoms, in order to keep others safe from you as well as begin supportive care.
There are two main types of influenza virus, Type A and Type B viruses that are routinely spread amongst humans (human influenza virus). These two types of influenza are responsible for the seasonal flu epidemics each year. One of the main issues that health researchers find with the flue is that it is a highly mutative virus. There are many, many different strains of flu, and the strain that is spread every year during flu season could be different than the vaccine that was created during off season.
The flu mutates by antigenic drift, where small changes in the DNA of the virus can lead to changes in the surface proteins of influenza viruses, which are the antigens that trigger the body’s immune response. These small changes typically result in only small differences in the viruses, meaning that the body may still be able to respond to a strain of influenza because it isn’t different than one that it seen before. However, some of these small changes can add up over time, and the influenza virus will have changed rapidly as time goes on. This creates a problem because the human body no longer has any memory or idea of how to respond to the invader.
Another type of change that the flu can undergo is antigenic shift which is more abrupt and drastically changes the surface proteins of influenza very quickly. When antigenic shift happens, most people have little to no immunity to the new virus, it spreads quickly and can cause a pandemic.
This year alone in the US, over 10,000 Americans have died from the flu. This year, ContagionLive reports that most statistics on the flu have increased this flu season. They report that 50% of flu cases seen from this flu season are from people 25 and younger. They also report that the seasonal hospitalization rate has increased to 24.1 percent.
For me this is in no way shocking. This past weekend I spent my time in ER of the hospital with two parents and a nephew that all tested positive for flu. My dad contracted it first, because he didn’t get his flu shot at all. We thought it was his CHF, but it turned out he tested positive for the flu. He gave it to my nephew unknowingly, as he was with him the day before he got diagnosed. He also gave it to my mother who spent 6 hours with him in an ER room, while he was coughing, with no mask and no clue what he had. She however, received her flu shot and recovered quickly. My dad spent 5 days in the hospital.
What I found most interesting about this flu season is how the book says that the flu is not really associated with diarrhea and vomiting, and it was even a question on our Connect assignments that the flu isn’t associated with diarrhea and vomiting. However, in online resources it says that it can be associated with diarrhea and vomiting. As I was talking to doctors in the ER, they said that with this year’s strains, they have seen a lot of diarrhea and vomiting. This makes me question whether or not we can truly say a symptom is NOT associated with flu because each year the strains are different. Just some food for thought.
Madison's Microbiology Masterpiece 