The daily news constantly talks about a new disease There is

The daily news constantly talks about a new disease. There is usually a new outbreak, risks for a universal or national pandemic, and new treatments, such as vaccinations, pharmaceuticals, or simply improving hygiene habits. In 2 to 3 paragraphs write a summary of an infectious disease that is currently being discussed. Include a brief description of the body system affected by the disease, and explain how the disease is being contained (vaccines, standard precautions, or pharmaceuticals).

Examples: Current influenza strain, Ebola, meningitis outbreak in college students, increased number of children with measles, MRSA outbreak in outpatient surgery centers

Outline of Summary

Introduce the disease - describe the disease, transmission, and prevention

Describe the body system -  how is the disease affecting the normal functions of the system

Recommendations to people affected and healthy people (treatments, vaccines, isolation)

Closing - include how the disease can be prevented, number of people currently affected, and risks for pandemic

Solution

Example: Influenza

Influenza is caused by a \"flu virus (H1N1).\" Different types of influenza viruses include type 1, type 2, and type 3.

H1N1 virus spread is due to severe exposure to zoonotic animals (carriers) such as pigs. This virus is pandemic due to its structural complexity of viral lipid membrane with spikes. These spikes are to act as an antigen in the host and also due to extremely fast RNA replication. Its genome is highly complement with host genome and result in host body produces antibodies (immune response) thereby only during the production immune response to the flu virus result in disease symptoms.

Signs and symptoms of the disease: Muscle pains, dry cough with phlegm (mild), chills, fever, loss of appetite, fatigue, runny nose, sneezing, throat irritation or the sore throat.

The common mode of transmission is through droplets of cough, sneezing, etc or through direction contact of the patient secretions.

The genetic reassortment (mixing of genetic material) is possible with the influenza virus as its genome consists of eight RNA segments. Previously, the occurrence of influenza pandemics was evidenced by the reassortment between the human and avian virus forms, and also the recent H1N1 outbreak is also a result of genetic reassortment.

H1N1 influenza has been the cause of four pandemics in recent history: 1918, 1957, 1968, and 2009. The fast RNA replication property of the virus made it to evolve the antigenic shift so that the same virus can efficiently attack different times though we developed resistance to any one type or two types of the virus.

We need to take influenza vaccine every year because the influenza viruses adapt to the developed immunity and evolve new virions that are not sensitive to the previous vaccines. So, influenza vaccines are released every year according to the newly evolved strains.