This is a work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, taken or made during the course of an employee's official duties. Producer: Centers for Disease Control. Creative Commons license: Public Domain
Influenza, commonly known 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). In humans, common symptoms of the disease are chills, fever, pharyngitis, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort. In more serious cases, influenza causes pneumonia, which can be fatal, particularly in young children and the elderly. Although it is often confused with the common cold, influenza is a much more severe disease and is caused by a different type of virus. Influenza can produce nausea and vomiting, especially in children, but these symptoms are more common in the unrelated disease gastroenteritis, which is sometimes called "stomach flu" or "24-hour flu". Typically, influenza is transmitted from infected mammals through the air by coughs or sneezes, creating aerosols containing the virus, and from infected birds through their droppings. Influenza can also be transmitted by saliva, nasal secretions, faeces and blood. Infections also occur through contact with these body fluids or with contaminated surfaces. Flu viruses can remain infectious for about one week at human body temperature, over 30 days at 0 °C (32 °F), and for much longer periods at very low temperatures. Most influenza strains can be inactivated easily by disinfectants and detergents. Flu 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 result from the spread of an existing flu virus to humans from other animal species. A deadly avian strain named H5N1 has posed the greatest risk for a new influenza pandemic since it first killed humans in Asia in the 1990s. Fortunately, this virus has not mutated to a form that spreads easily between people. 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 different strains become dominant. Antiviral drugs can be used to treat influenza, with neuraminidase inhibitors being particularly effective.
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Swine Flu Virus H1N1 Strain Infects Humans in United Statesby CrossMembersEnt10,975 views
i think hes captain america!!
equirnam 2 years ago
He looks and sounds like a robot.
LyNtRuTh 2 years ago
Mexican Wetback Flu !!!! This government is gonna kill alot of people . Our government killed 25 folks in 1976 and the hospitalize hundreds of folks across the nation. I will not get this vacine ! 420
sociablyclussy 2 years ago
i need more info on this, i gotta do a 3 page report on this
phearse08 2 years ago
How is this diagnosed?
dorotwhy 2 years ago
@philippe In other words, we bio-engineered it to spread in humans. thumbs up....
Freedaaa 2 years ago 2
In other words, we bio-engineered it to spread in humans.
PhilippeDeChampaigne 2 years ago 2