Summer 2008 Workshopin Biology and Multimedia for High School Teachers

INFLUENZAVIRUS:A Model for LearningAbout DiseaseLaurie St.PierreSandwich High SchoolSandwich, MA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:EM_of_influenza_virus.jpg

Understanding Influenza: A Contagious Respiratory IllnessCauseHistoryMethod of infection and replicationSymptoms and diagnosis Prevention and TreatmentCurrent research

CAUSE: RNA Virusfile:///Users/outreach/Desktop/DESKTOP%202008/curr%20project/Image-3D%20Influenza%20virus 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.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:3D_Influenza_virus.png

History: Known Flu PandemicsInformation taken from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/influenza

Name of pandemicDateDeathsAsiatic Flu1889-18901 millionSpanish Flu1918-192040 -100 millionAsian Flu1957-19581 - 1.5 millionHong Kong Flu1968-19690.75 - 1 million

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 plagueThe majority of deaths were from a secondary infection such as bacterial pneumoniaIt 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

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.jpgHistorical factors may have also contributed to the spread of the 1918 -1919 flu:

Global war moving people great distances

Crowded conditions in troop ships

Method of Infection and Replication: The flu virus binds onto sugars on the surfaces of epithelial cells such as nose, throat, and lungs of mammals and intestines of birds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Virus_Replication_large.svg

Symptoms & Diagnosis:ChillsBody aches, especially throat and jointsCoughing and sneezingExtreme feverFatigue, headache, and nasal congestionThough 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: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.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Aerosol_from_Sneeze.jpg

Influenza in the News:Scientists Recreate 1918 Flu Virus From Scratch By Mike Stobbe, Associated Pressposted: 05 October 2005 03:23 pm ETInsides of Flu Virus Revealed By Ker Than, LiveScience Staffposted: 26 January 2006 08:06 am ETPossible Path to Humans for Avian Flu Found By Sara Goudarzi, LiveScience Staff Writerposted: 16 March 2006 02:00 pm EThttp://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.

http://www.influenzareport.com/ir/ai.htmCourtesy 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

Scientists Recreate 1918 Flu Virus From Scratch