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My disease of study is Influenza, it is commonly known as the flu. The Influenza virus is  an infectious disease that is caused by influenza viruses. According to the article The Pathology of Influenza Virus Infections, Influenza viruses belongs to the family of Orthomyx-oviridae. This disease has negatively stranded RNA viruses that have segmented genomes that contains from seven to eight gene segments. This virus has one genus that includes influenza A and B viruses and there is another one for the influenza C viruses. From these three types of viruses what makes them any different is the host and pathogenicity. The picture above shows the anatomy of the Influenza virus. To read more about Influenza viruses click here.

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a. According to the website abionline.com, the Influenza flu began with Hippocrates which was around the 5th century BC, where there were reports that demonstrated influenza like illness that spread from Northern Greece to the islands south and everywhere else. There is also various types of records of Influenza like illness that date back to at least 1,500 years.

b. The suspected infectious agent is a virus. There are various types of names that certain Influenza viruses strains go by, however the one that I am focusing on is a newer strain called H1N1 virus.

c. The Influenza flu virus is what you call an emerging infectious disease, it is caused from both natural and human factors. The Influenza flu virus is a contagious illness that is caused by viruses that can invade and infect all of the respiratory tracts.

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a. There is no exact specific geographical regions that the Influenza flu virus has spread to because for a while in history medicine wasn't as advance as today in detecting an origin. However, based on the information that I was able to gather from the reports made from flu like symptoms that spread from Northern Greece to the islands south and everywhere else according to the website abionline.com.

b. According to an article from the website abionline.com, there are records that show that the flu has existed for at least 1,500 years. There has even been traces in history of it being reported by Hippocrates in the 5th century BC, which was one of the first reports that indicated influenza like symptoms which spread from Northern Greece to the islands south and everywhere else. In the 1300s, a flu like illness hit Florence, Italy called Influenza di freddo, because medicine wasn't as advance as it is today it was left without any treatments or cures until various other flu like viruses emerged. As time progressed other health records reported that there was a spread from Asia to Europe and Africa over the centuries. Until a deadly virus Spanish flu in 1918 emerged and that's when the Influenza virus started to get more attention. These are the principles/ origins of Influenza leading to a new strain of the influenza virus called H1N1 in 2009, that spread to North America and eventually spread worldwide.

c. All of the Influenza viruses have a different count with how many people were affected. It is estimated that the Spanish flu had 50 million deaths. The H1N1 estimated at over 200,000 death. Currently, according to the website ourworldindata.org, the estimated deaths for the flu in 2018-2019 in the US was 34,157. It is said that globally seasonal Influenza kills about 400,000 people on average.

d. The picture above is a graphic that demonstrates the spread of the Spanish flu.

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a. The Influenza virus as I have mentioned before has various strains, of those stains the most virulent is the one from Influenza A. This type of virus is the most harmful and it can lead to serious conditions. One of the virulence factors found in this type is called hemagglutinin (HA). For the flu virulence it can cause mild to severe illness and it can even lead to death.

b. Because Influenza viruses tend to evolve rapidly through mutation and assortment of segments of viral genome they tend to change when new strains, variants and subtypes emerge with time.

c. According to the National Institute of Health, virulence can be defined as the ability of an organism infecting the host and then causing a disease.

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a. The health care community responded by creating a vaccine to treat the Influenza virus. When the Spanish flu in 1918 first hit, there wasn't a lot of information on how to combat this virus. This pandemic caused a lot of deaths which encouraged a lot of the health care communities to come together to create a solution.

b. One of the medical advances that was used to combat the influenza virus was the development of trivalent inactive vaccines (TIVs). This caused for the development of subunit vaccines to decrease the reactions that children were getting to treatments.

c. In regards to the vaccine created, it specifically creates monoclonal antibodies that target and neutralize the influenza virus, causing a reduction in viral replication and the intensity of the symptoms. This concept of the treatment was considered a new technology because it was one of the beginnings of how powerful and still relevant vaccines are today.

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a. According to articles that I have read, this disease was handled by the CDC with the use of vaccines. These vaccines for the most part is what helps individuals that are sick with this disease recover. Till this day CDC officials advise that we get the seasonal flu vaccine to help reduce the spread of seasonal flu.

b. In the early 1900s the use of vaccines was considered a innovative initiative. Just like in the COVID-19 pandemic the CDC advised to socially distance to help reduce the spread of the Influenza virus.

c. I honestly can not think of anything that the CDC could have done better in response to this disease. Everything that was done helped in reducing the spread of the Influenza virus.

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a. Beyond the physical effect, the societal and sociological effect that this disease impacted generations now has lead for us to get seasonal vaccinations, so that it can help reduce the spread. Some people have even considered to self isolated when sick.

b. After the first influenza virus society behaviors did in fact change. A lot of people lost loved ones to this virus. As I mentioned before medicine wasn't as advance as it is today. This encouraged medicine doctors and scientists to create a solution to this problem.

c. No, society didn't learn from the physical effect of the disease. As time progressed more and more variants emerged. Until recently for the COVID-19 pandemic similarly to the influenza flu virus was so impactful to our current generation that caused for there to be a rush in the creation of vaccinations to help reduce the spread of the this disease. Health officials encourage us to get regularly vaccinated so that if we do get infected with the seasonal influenza virus it won't be that bad for us and society.

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The most revealing aspect that I learned about the influenza virus was that there are three types of variants (A,B,C). Within these variants the all have the same transcription of the virus but can be contracted differently. I learned that vaccines have come a long way with how they are applied. This was the most surprising information because apparently vaccines were pressurized into skin before needles were even considered. Something that I came across in my research that I feel like could have been a part of my Padlet assignment is how the flu is not the same as the common cold. The flu at times can be very serious, to the extent of death.