Questions and answers

What factors affect the spread of influenza?

What factors affect the spread of influenza?

The factors that dictate the severity and spread of influenza would include the virus, natural and acquired hosts, virus-host interactions, environmental persistence, virus stability and transmissibility, and anthropogenic interventions.

What is the mode of transmission for influenza?

Person to Person. People with flu can spread it to others up to about 6 feet away. Most experts think that flu viruses spread mainly by droplets made when people with flu cough, sneeze or talk. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.

What environmental factors affect influenza?

Apart from temperature and humidity, air pollution, UV radiation, and precipitation affect transmissibility of influenza virus.

What environment is best for influenza?

Seasonality of influenza is largely dictated by temperature and humidity, with cool-dry conditions enhancing IAV survival and transmissibility in temperate climates in high latitudes, whereas humid-rainy conditions favor outbreaks in low latitudes, as seen in tropical and subtropical zones.

How can the spread of influenza be controlled?

The Flu: Stop the Spread

  1. Get the flu vaccine.
  2. Wash your hands often, especially before eating and after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose.
  3. Keep your sneezes and coughs to yourself (use a tissue or your elbow instead of your hand).
  4. Keep your hands out of your eyes, mouth, and nose.

Is influenza an airborne?

These droplets land in the mouths or noses of people nearby. Or, less commonly, a person might touch a surface contaminated with them, then touching his or her own face. But now there’s evidence showing that influenza transmission can also be airborne.

What is the incubation period range for influenza?

The incubation period of influenza is 2 days long on average but may range from 1 to 4 days in length.

What is the host of influenza?

Influenza viruses comprise a family of four distinct viruses: influenza A, B, C and D viruses. Influenza A viruses infect a wide range of host species, whereas the main hosts for influenza B and C are humans, and influenza D virus has thus far been found to infect cattle, goats and pigs1 (Fig. 1).

How can you prevent influenza?

Healthy Habits to Help Protect Against Flu

  1. Avoid close contact. Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
  2. Stay home when you are sick.
  3. Cover your mouth and nose.
  4. Clean your hands.
  5. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
  6. Practice other good health habits.

Why does flu go away in summer?

The flu tends to spike in the fall and winter for a major reason: the temperature. “The virus survives better in cool, dry temperatures,” Simanek said. And that’s thanks to a protective gel-like coating that surrounds the flu virus while it’s in the air.

Why do doctors prescribe antibiotics for flu?

While a bacterial ear or sinus infection can be a mild complication, pneumonia is more serious and may require hospitalization. If you develop a secondary bacterial infection as a complication from the flu, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics to treat it.

How can we prevent influenza Class 9?

How is the influenza virus transmitted in the household?

Review Household Transmission of Influenza Virus 1 Transmission of Human Influenza Viruses. Human influenza viruses cause regular epidemics and occasional pandemics. 2 Household Cohort Studies and Transmission Studies. 3 Review of Transmissibility of Influenza Viruses in Households. 4 Limitations of Household Transmission Studies.

How many genes does the influenza A virus have?

Influenza A virus Influenza A virus is a single-stranded negative-sense segmented RNA virus, with a genome consisting of eight gene segments, that can encode up to 16 proteins [1–5] (Fig 1a).

What are the determinants of virulence of influenza A virus?

Several influenza A proteins have been shown to be important determinants of virulence (indicated with boxes). The HA glycoprotein (light green) is important as a tropism factor, for cleavage of HA by cellular proteases, and is a prerequisite for starting viral infection.

How is influenza spread in the tropics?

Lowen also hypothesized that transmission of influenza in temperate regions is primarily by aerosol spread, while transmission in the tropics is by contact (Lowen, 2009). Public health measures have been the mainstay for the prevention of infectious diseases for centuries and remain important and relevant today.