Example Of Essay On Medicine: Module 1 Assignment

Influenza is a viral disease which causes fever, fatigue, body aches, cough, sore and dry throat, lack of appetite. The person affected by influenza faces these symptoms and become less active and tired more than usual. Every year people get affected by influenza virus because the strains of the viruses leep on changing hence, every year people become ill due to the new viral strain. This influenza is caused by mainly different strains of influenza virus A and B.
The influenza pandemic that occurred in 1918 was very severe because it caused devastation in people health since, 50 million of the people were died worldwide. Therefore, this influenza pandemic is considered to be the one which resulted in extensive loss of lives throughout the world. Influenza disease is prevalent in Asia, and from Asia it was transferred to other parts of the world. The major regions of the world which were the victims of 1918 influenza pandemic were Asia, North America, and Europe. Since 1915, the viral flu incidents had been commenced but the greater focus during those years was on the pneumonia disease . consequently, the events of influenza cases were neglected and it turn out to be an epidemic in 1918. The pandemic destroyed the normal lives of the people as each family experienced 4 to 5 affected persons. The states had lost the normal routine lives as the shops were closed, there were near to no people visibleon streets because the people were ill and the healthy were afraid to catch the virus if stepped outside. In the states of America, the influenza pandemic of 1918 lead to one-third deaths of its population which was more than the warriors who were killed in world war. The enormous number of deaths were faced in this pandemic therefore, it is considered to be one of the most devastatious pandemic in the world (Taubenberger & David, 2006).
Natural influenza can be differentiated from the 1918 pandemic influenza as the genome sequence of the virus was altered and the people were not immunized through prophylaxis. Moreover, it was studied that the influenza virus consisted of some avian influenza viral triats since, the humans and swines were equally affected during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Mostly, young and healthy individuals were attacked and the absence of control of spread and drugs or vaccines lead to the elevation in the pandemic prevalence and it caused more deaths. The reason behind the deaths of young people more was not understood but it is supposed that the older people might retain some immunity against the virus which was similar to the H1N1 influenza virus that was responsible for the 1918 pandemic.
On the other hand, an influenza pandemic was occurred in 2009 as well. The same H1N1 virus was the causative agent for the disease in 2009. Similar to 1918 pandemic, the 2009 pandmeic of influenza also experienced more deaths in young people than older. However, the death rate was not less enormous than 1918 pandemic. The influenza virus in 2009 led to 18000 deaths in the world and affected 75 countries including the North America. The death rate was controlled and not according to the 1918 pandemic since, the people were vaccinated against the virus of 1918 pandemic influenza virus.
The influenza virus of 1918 pandemic was unapproachable but the researchers extract the virus from the dead bodies of affected individuals and completed genome sequencing. The knowledge of genome of 1918 pandemic influenza virus aid them in developing vaccines hence, people were vaccinated against the 1918 pandemic virus. Corrrespondingly, the H1N1 virus of 1918 pandemic shared some characteristics with H1N1 virus of 2009 pandemic. Therefore, the immunity was present in those individuals who were vaccinated hence, they were saved from the pandemic and remain unaffected from the virus. Ultimately, the human body recognized the H and N antigens on the viruses and initiated defense mechanism in order to prevent influenza. Threofore, the 2009 pandemic was less severe than 1918 pandemic by influenza virus. Due to immunity, the victims of 2009 pandemic were unlikely to die conversely, some died due to lungs failure or pneumonia.
The pandemic of 1918 aid in learning the preventive measures which are necessary to be adapted in order to avoid any further pandemic and control the disease during its outbreak. The foremost and important task was accomplished by formulating the vaccine for H1N1 virus (David et al, 2010). Later, the people who are at high risks of the pandemicof influenza were identified. Pregnant, young, children, severity in respiratory infrctions. Consequently, extra care was provided to the people at high risk and surveillance conferences were conducted. These conferences mainly focus on the fact of rising awareness among the people at high risk regarding the measures to prevent the diseases. As both the pandemic viral strain contained traits of the avian influenza virus therefore, people who stays near or in surrounding to the avian flock were guided as they can catch the avian virus and became the source of transfer of new strain viral geome. Subsequently, another pandemic could result comprising of the new strain.
On the other hand, 1918 inflenza pandemic explained many means to control the transfer of disease from affected to unaffected. Adequate nursing facilities and technical advancement have made the control pf pandemic easier. The affected persons can be quarantine to prevent influenza transmission. Proper hygiene of hands, avoid touching of eyes and nose, and other objects can prevent the spread of disease among children during a pandemic. Furthermore, the vaccine against all types of infleuza pandemic tops the list of researchers.

Works Cited

Morens, David M., et al. "The 1918 influenza pandemic: lessons for 2009 and the future." Critical care medicine 38.4 Suppl (2010): e10. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3180813/ on 16th january 2015.
Taubenberger, Jeffery K., and David M. Morens. "1918 Influenza: the mother of all pandemics." Rev Biomed 17 (2006): 69-79. Retrieved from http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/12/1/pdfs/05-0979.pdf on 16th january 2015.