Influenza Research Paper

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Influenza is an acute viral respiratory disease known to cause an estimated 23,000 deaths per year. It usually has a season that lasts usually from October to March, typically peaking around February. However, influenza activity can even last until May. Influenza is usually characterized by symptoms similar to the common cold such as stuffy nose, cough, and sore throat. These symptoms make transmission of this virus seemingly effortless, considering influenza is already a highly contagious disease.
Often times, cold symptoms can be mistaken for flu symptoms because they are so similar, but there are also some distinct differences between the two. First, influenza symptoms have a rapid onset. Some of these symptoms include fever or feeling …show more content…
Though, this test can still provide inaccurate results and more extensive tests can be run in laboratories. The results of these tests can take up to several hours, but they are going to provide the most accurate results. However, just because you have flu-like symptoms doesn’t mean that your doctor will perform a flu test because regardless of whether you have it or not does not change your course of treatment. Most people aren’t tested for the flu, and usually the only reason doctors test for the flu is to determine the cause of an …show more content…
The use of antiviral drugs may decrease the amount of time someone experiences symptoms from the flu. Home remedies may lessen the severity of the illness, but the virus just has to run its course. However, just because someone gets the flu and recovers does not mean they are immune to it. Since the flu virus can change so quickly, a new strain develops every few years, which makes complete immunity from the flu nearly impossible.
The deadliest influenza epidemic in the United State was the Spanish Influenza Epidemic in 1918-1919. The first reported cases of influenza were in Kansas in the Spring of 1918. Some estimates claim that this epidemic killed an upwards of 70 million people. There were stories that people died within the first hour of becoming ill. During this time, no effective vaccine or treatment had been developed, mainly because it was still believed that the flu was caused by a bacterium, not a virus. Decades later in 1968, an effective vaccine was created, but not in enough time to prevent another
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