Summer 2008 Workshop in Biology and Multimedia for High School Teachers

INFLUENZA VIRUS:
A Model for Learning About Disease
Laurie St.Pierre Sandwich High School Sandwich, MA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:EM_of_influenza_virus.jpg

Understanding Influenza: A Contagious Respiratory Illness

Cause
History Method of infection and replication Symptoms and diagnosis Prevention and Treatment Current research

CAUSE: RNA Virus

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:3D_Influenza_virus.png

The influenza virus, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease of birds and mammals caused by RNA viruses. Commonly confused with a cold, the flu is a much more severe disease and caused by a different virus.

History: Known Flu Pandemics

Name of pandemic Asiatic Flu Spanish Flu Asian Flu Hong Kong Flu Date 1889-1890 1918-1920 1957-1958 1968-1969 Deaths 1 million 40 -100 million 1 - 1.5 million 0.75 - 1 million

Information taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/influenza

1918 Flu Pandemic

American Red Cross nurses tend to flu patients in temporary wards set up inside the Oakland municipal Auditorium.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1918_flu_in_Oakland.jpg

1918 Flu Pandemic Facts:

May have killed as many people as the Black Death- bubonic plague The majority of deaths were from a secondary infection such as bacterial pneumonia It killed between 2 and 20 % of those infected; normal mortality rate is 0.1 % It mostly killed young adults with more than half of the deaths in people between 20 - 40 years old due to novel surface proteins on the virus. It killed as many as 25 million in the first 25 weeks, whereas HIV/AIDS has killed 25 million in the first 25 years.
Information taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/influenza

Historical factors may have also contributed to the spread of the 1918 -1919 flu: Global war moving people great distances Crowded conditions in troop ships
Street car conductor from Seattle not allowing passengers aboard without a mask in 1918.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:165-WW-269B-11-trolley-l.jpg
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Method of Infection and Replication:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Virus_Replication_large.svg

The flu virus binds onto sugars on the surfaces of epithelial cells such as nose, throat, and lungs of mammals and intestines of birds.

Symptoms & Diagnosis:

Chills Body aches, especially throat and joints Coughing and sneezing Extreme fever Fatigue, headache, and nasal congestion Though similar symptoms occur with a cold, they are much more severe with the flu!

Information taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/influenza

Prevention & Treatment of the Flu:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imag e:Aerosol_from_Sneeze.jpg

Get the flu vaccine each year due to high mutation rate of the virus.
Practice good hygiene and personal health habits. Cover your mouth when while sneezing and wash your hands regularly as the virus spreads through aerosols. Since the flu is a virus, antibiotics wont work unless there is a secondary bacterial infection.

Influenza in the News:

Scientists Recreate 1918 Flu Virus From Scratch

By

Mike Stobbe, Associated Pressposted: 05 October 2005 03:23 pm ET

Insides of Flu Virus Revealed

By Ker Than, LiveScience Staffposted: 26 January 2006 08:06 am ET

Possible Path to Humans for Avian Flu Found

By Sara Goudarzi, LiveScience Staff Writerposted: 16 March 2006 02:00 pm ET
http://www.livescience.com/

Current Research:

The Influenza Genome Sequencing Project - creating a library of influenza sequences to study why one strain is more lethal than another. Research into new vaccines. Study the infection in other animals, especially birds.Viral strains between species can occur.

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http://www.influenzareport.com/ir/ai.htm Courtesy of Timm Harder

Scheme of avian influenza pathogenesis and epidemiologyLPAIV - low pathogenic avian influenza virus; HPAIV - highly pathogenic avian influenza virus; HA - haemagglutinin protein; dotted lines with arrows represent species barriers