Lecture 2: Upper respiratory tract viral infection ifluenza & prophylaxis

student: Parisa Pour khosrow group 26, 4th years Dental faculty

Kiev - 2011

The upper part of the respiratory system includes the ears, nose, sinuses, mouth, and throat. It also includes the main bronchi or windpipes, which are the air carrying tubes in the chest. The upper respiratory system is the most commonly infected area in the body.

The term upper respiratory infection (URI) includes the common cold, sore throats, and flu. URIs are usually caused by a virus but may also be due to bacteria or other organisms. An upper respiratory infection is rarely serious but often causes bothersome symptoms.

Influenza
Influenza is a viral infection of the upper respiratory system, which includes the nose, bronchial tubes, and lungs. Influenza is characterized by the following: fever muscle aches sore throat nonproductive cough Influenza can make people of any age ill. The majority of adults and children have symptoms with influenza for only a few days, while others may have a more serious illness. Influenza may also lead to pneumonia and/or death.
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Influenza viruses are divided into three types designated as A, B, and C.

Influenza types A and B are responsible for epidemics of respiratory illness that occur almost every winter and are often associated with severe cases. Efforts to control the impact of influenza are focused on types A and B. One of the reasons the flu remains a problem is because the viruses actually alter their structure, exposing adults and children to new types of the virus each time. Influenza type C usually causes either a very mild respiratory illness or no symptoms at all. It does not cause epidemics and does not have the severe public health impact that influenza types A and B do. Influenza viruses continually mutate or change, which enables the virus to evade the immune system of a person. People are susceptible to influenza infection throughout their lives. The process works as follows:

A person infected with influenza virus develops antibody against that virus. The virus mutates or changes. The "older" antibody no longer recognizes the "newer" virus. Reinfection occurs.
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Influenza is called a respiratory disease, but the whole body seems to suffer when a child has it. Children usually become suddenly ill with any, or all, of the following symptoms:
fever, which may be as high as 103 F to 105 F aches and pains not feeling well "all over" headache cough that is nonproductive sore throat runny or stuffy nose nausea vomiting diarrhea fatigue Most people recover from influenza within a week, but may be left feeling exhausted for as long as three to four weeks.
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A cold and the flu (influenza) are two different illnesses. A cold is relatively harmless and usually clears up by itself after a period of time, although sometimes it may lead to a secondary infection, such as an ear infection. The flu can also be harmless but may progress to a more complicated illness such as pneumonia and even death

Prevention of influenza:
A new influenza vaccine is introduced each September. It is usually recommended for specific groups of people (see below), as well as for persons who want to avoid having the flu. In addition, antiviral medications are approved for use in preventing the flu in children. All of these medications are available by prescription, and a physician should be consulted before any medication is used for preventing the flu. A nasal-spray flu vaccine, called FluMist, is currently approved to prevent flu due to influenza A and B viruses in healthy children and adolescents (ages two to 17), and healthy adults (ages 18 to 49). As with other live virus vaccines, FluMist should not be given for any reason to pregnant women and people with immune suppression, including those with immune deficiency diseases, such as AIDS or cancer, and people who are being treated with medications that cause immunosuppression. FluMist also should not be given to the following groups of people: children less than two years of age any person with asthma children less than five years of age with recurrent wheezing
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Vaccine effectiveness :
Vaccine effectiveness varies from year to year, depending upon the degree of similarity between the influenza virus strains included in the vaccine and the strain or strains that circulate during the influenza season. Vaccine strains must be chosen nine to ten months before the influenza season. Sometimes, changes occur in the circulating strains of viruses between the time vaccine strains are chosen and the next influenza season. These changes may reduce the ability of the vaccine-induced antibody to inhibit the newly mutated virus, thereby decreasing the chance that the vaccine will work. Vaccine effectiveness also varies from one person to another, depending on factors such as age and overall health.

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Refrences
http://www.lpch.org/DiseaseHealthInfo/H ealthLibrary/respire/flu.html http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2 19557-overview http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/di sease/the-flu/overview.html

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