MCDB 3160 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Orthomyxoviridae, Antibody Titer, Avian Influenza

• School: CU-Boulder
• Department: Molecular Cell & Developmental Biology
• Course: MCDB 3160
• Professor: sarahsawyer

Document Summary

Influenza was derived from a latin word influentia and it was named like that because it was thought to influence; nowadays it is named as flu. These pandemics resulted in high morbidity and mortality. Average number of deaths due to flue: 23,600/ year and this number it can range from 3,300 to 49,000/year. Pregnant women, infants, elderly people and immunocompromised people are at high risk of getting infected. Influenza is the seventh leading cause of death in the us. Influenza has an extremely short incubation period [1-4 days] One droplet can contain 100,000-1,000,000 viral particles- copious number of infectious virus particles ; droplets derived from sneezing and coughing shed a very big number of viral particles. Infected people do not stay at home thus, spreading the illness to other people. Individuals lack immunity to the strain of the influenza that circulates in the community during the tie of the epidemic.