Influenza Report

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Influenza Report

The influenza epidemic of 1918 was the worst case that has ever hit any country in humanities’ history. It is recorded that it caused more deaths than the deaths, which occurred in the just concluded World War 1 (Billings, 2005). This was about twenty to forty million people. The epidemic took away more people in one year than the four years of the 1347- 1357 Black Death Bubonic Plague. This influenza is also known as the Spanish Flu (Billings, 2005).

Another year that was affected by the influenza virus was the year 2009-2010. The influenza A H1N1 virus, which was given the common name the swine flu, was another epidemic that hit many countries globally. However, the most affected parts of the world were the American and the Asian countries.

The influenza virus is said to be at its peak during the fall and the winter seasons. However, globally, the cases are most severe during the cold and rainy seasons. In the 1918 case, influenza was noted in the soldiers in the spring of that year. Unfortunately, it was not taken seriously and that is how it spread to the other people in America and globally. The recent 2009 case of the H1N1 virus also started in during the spring season before made a climax during the late October-November winter season. With this assessment, influenza is most likely to be detected during the spring season and the climaxes during the cold seasons.

There are three known types of influenza viruses at present. Some types are then sub-divided into other smaller groups. These major types are types A, B and C (CDC, 2011). The type A is then sub-divided into influenza A (H1N1) virus (Swine Flu virus) and Influenza A (H3N2) virus (Avian Flu virus). The most common types in human beings are Types A and types B. Types C is not very common (Flu.Gov, 2011).

The people who are at a higher risk of getting infected are the older people above the age of 65, children who are below two years, and those people with particular medical; conditions. These people include people with diseases such as kidney, diabetes, heart, lung and metabolic diseases. The disease is mostly spread through the inhaling of infected droplets in the air. Since it is airborne, it becomes very easy for it to reach as many people as those who breathe the infected air (WHO, 2011).

The seasonal influenza poses as other types of colds although it might be more severe if the necessary procedures are not checked. The common signs and symptoms are dry coughing, high fever, joint and muscle pains, headaches, runny nose, sore throat and severe malaise (WHO, 2011). Although most people recover from fever in a week without any medical attention, influenza acts differently as it leads to severe illnesses or death if the necessary medical attention is not sort out immediately.

According to some facts given by WHO (2011), influenza is an acute viral infection, that is easily communicable from one medium to another (this medium is people). This is how the disease spread world wide in the pandemic of the period between the years 1918-1919. I t was believed that the virus had started fro a dead soldier’s body during the war, the it spread to other soldiers, which quickly spread to other people as the soldiers moved all over the world in fight. The disease was and still is highly infectious and that is why a quarter of Americans and a third of the people in the world were infected (Billings, 2005).

In the 2009-2010 pandemic, the virus is said to have began in Mexico. However, other scientists believe that it could have also started in the United States. Nevertheless, by the end of June, the more than a hundred deaths were reported in the Central America an only very few were reported in other parts of the country and of the world. By November of the year 2009 countries in Asia, South America and some states in North America were reporting more than a hundred deaths in a day. Approximately 12,000 Americans died from this disease by Mid-March 2010 (CDC, 2010).

A earlier noted the disease started gradually and then it rapidly spread to other parts of the world. In these two periods, the climax of the disease was experienced before the disease was controlled. It as also proved to be most dangerous within a year of its outburst. After the year, the disease becomes easily controllable. However, a number of precautions were taken by the health and the federal government in order to make sure that the disease was put under control.

Most countries put quarantine to its people during the first epidemic. There was minimal interaction between the people in order to limit the chances of spreading the infection. It was so bad that people were allowed to have burial services that only lasted for fifteen minutes (Billing, 2005). Movement from one country to another was also minimized in order to try to control an already deteriorating situation. Through medication and such quarantines, the pandemic was already under control by the end of the year 1919. In the 2009-2010 pandemic, the affected countries could not export any form of birds (including chicken and their products). There was also minimal movement to and from these countries and the other global countries. President Barrack Obama declared this pandemic a National emergency. Fortunately, there was vaccination available and so people were asked to get vaccination for it. People are asked to get vaccinations even today.

Works Cited

Billings, Molly. “The Influenza Pandemic of 1918.” Web Stanford Education, 2005. Web. 18 October 2011. < http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/ >

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Seasonal Influenza.” CDC, 2011. Web. 18 October 2011. < http://www.cdc.gov/flu/ >

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Weekly Reports of Influenza in the U.S.” CDC, 2010. Web. 18 October 2011. < http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/fluactivity.htm >

United States Department of Health & Human Services. “Global Activities: Flu.” Flu.Gov, 2011. Web. 18 October 2011. < http://pandemicflu.gov/global/>

World Health Organization. “Health Topics: Influenza.” WHO, 2011. Web. 18 October 2011.

< http://www.who.int/topics/influenza/en/ >