INITIATING QUESTIONS

1. What is an epidemic?
Is a classification of a disease that appears as new cases in a given human population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is "expected," based on recent experience
2. What is a pandemic?
An epidemic occurring over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting large numbers of people. A global disease epidemic.
3. What is an infectious disease?
A disease that can be transmitted from person to person or from organism to organism, and is caused by eg viruses and bacteria.
4. What is a virus?
Is a sub-microscopic infectious agent that is unable to grow or reproduce outside a host cell. Viruses infect all types of cellular life
5. What makes the H1N1 virus a "novel" or "new" virus?
That it has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in Europe and Asia and avian genes and human genes. Scientists call this a "quadruple reassortant" virus.
6. How do viruses mutate?
The only way a virus can reproduce is through a host cell, which it does by attaching its surface proteins to the cell's membrane and injecting its genetic material into the cell.
7. What does it mean that this virus has "parts" from other known swine flus, human flus and American bird flus?
It means that it has taken some things of those flues so it can become a stronger and deadlier flue
8. How does that process happen?
Influenza A viruses come in many different subtypes based on differences in their proteins. Each subtype can have many different strains. New subtypes and strains arise when the virus undergoes genetic mutations.
9. How is the flu vaccine created?
It was caused by an unusually virulent and deadly Influenza A virus strain of subtype H1N1.
10. Why are some viruses transmittable from human to human while others are not (avian flu)?
It has to do with the surface proteins that they use to enter the cell. If the proteins can get the virus in to human cells, it will infect a human who is exposed. If they work well, then the virus will be successful enough to spread between humans.
11. How does Tamiflu work?
Tamiflu is an antiviral drug used in the treatment and prophylaxis of both Influenzavirus A and Influenzavirus B. Like zanamivr, Tamiflu is a neuraminidase inhibitor. It acts as a transition-state analogue inhibitor of influenza neuraminidase, preventing new viruses from emerging from infected cells
12. Scientists worry that H1N1 might become resistant to Tamiflu. How might that happen?
Because after you attack a virus with the same medicine, the virus might become resistant and that can happened.