Influenza has been a disease that has captured the twentieth and twenty-first century, though has a history of existing since the Middle Ages. With over a hundred different strains, this virus has caused pandemics, such as the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and the most recent 2009 pandemic. Influenza outbreaks are most common during the winter season. The most common strain, Influenza A, has caused the most amount of pandemics in recent history. By traveling through animals, the proteins are shifted, causing the creation of new strains. Due to the many different strains of the virus, each pandemic disproportionately affects a different population. For example, the 1918 Flu pandemic affected healthy, young adults, while the 2009 Flu pandemic affected seniors and those with underlying conditions.
Influenza is a respiratory disease, meaning that it mainly attacks the lungs. Those who experience the flu will suffer fever, headache, pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs), etc… Those who are suffering from underlying conditions, mainly respiratory conditions, are at a higher risk. A good way to prevent the flu from entering the body is by taking the influenza vaccine, preferably every year, since influenza viruses are notorious for creating new, fatal strains fairly quickly. The vaccines will help build antibodies that will fight off the virus once it enters the body. Influenza spreads through the air when a person infected with it sneezes or touches someone else. It usually travels through the respiratory system, and enters the lungs. Influenza can be detected by rapid tests and symptoms itself.
This article, while very long, builds up on key points of the influenza virus. But, the introduction and conclusion provide a brief but informational summary to the entire paper. It compares different types of influenza strains, talks about the symptoms, the history of influenza and how the pathogen moves in the body, and how certain parts of the lungs and the respiratory system as a whole are affected. The research regarding many questions of the influenza virus, from what treatments work to how it spreads through animals, is backed by pictures and experiments. It would be easier if they focused on one, main, research question instead of multiple questions, but given that it is a broad topic, it is understandable as to why there are many questions. It would be easier to the reader though if it was better organized.
Works Cited
Taubenberger, J. K., & Morens, D. M. (2008). The pathology of influenza virus infections. Annual review of pathology. Retrieved July 16, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2504709/#:~:text=Influenza%20A%20and%20B%20viruses%20are%20the%20most,viruses%2C%20respiratory%20syncytial%20viruses%2C%20and%20Mycoplasma%20pneumoniae.%20
