Portal:Viruses

Influenza, or flu, is an infectious disease caused by some orthomyxoviruses, that affects birds and some mammals including humans, horses and pigs. Influenza is predominantly transmitted through the air by coughs or sneezes, creating aerosols containing the virus. It can also be transmitted by contact with bird droppings or nasal secretions, or by touching contaminated surfaces. As the virus can be inactivated by soap, frequent hand washing reduces the risk of infection. Around a third of cases show no symptoms. The most common symptoms include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pains, headache, cough and fatigue. Influenza is occasionally associated with nausea and vomiting, particularly in children. Pneumonia is a rare complication which can be life-threatening.

Influenza spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics, resulting in about 3–5 million cases of severe illness annually, and about 250,000–500,000 deaths, mainly in the young, the old and those with other health problems. Annual influenza vaccinations are recommended for those at high risk. Sporadic influenza pandemics have been recorded since at least the 16th century. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918–20 is estimated to have killed 50–100 million people.

Haemagglutinin, a glycoprotein trimer on the influenza virus envelope, binds to the sialic acid-containing receptor on the host cell. After the virus has been engulfed into an endosome, it changes configuration, causing the viral and endosomal membranes to fuse, releasing the viral genome into the cytoplasm.

Credit: Jawahar Swaminathan (EBI) (16 November 2008)

Map showing the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 cases; black: highest prevalence; dark red to pink: decreasing prevalence; grey: no recorded cases or no data

26 February: In the ongoing pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), more than 110 million confirmed cases, including 2.5 million deaths, have been documented globally since the outbreak began in December 2019. WHO

18 February: Seven asymptomatic cases of avian influenza A subtype H5N8, the first documented H5N8 cases in humans, are reported in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, after more than 100,0000 hens died on a poultry farm in December. WHO

14 February: Seven cases of Ebola virus disease are reported in Gouécké, south-east Guinea. WHO

7 February: A case of Ebola virus disease is detected in North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO

4 February: An outbreak of Rift Valley fever is ongoing in Kenya, with 32 human cases, including 11 deaths, since the outbreak started in November. WHO

21 November: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives emergency-use authorisation to casirivimab/imdevimab, a combination monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy for non-hospitalised people twelve years and over with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, after granting emergency-use authorisation to the single mAb bamlanivimab earlier in the month. FDA 1, 2

18 November: The outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, which started in June, has been declared over; a total of 130 cases were recorded, with 55 deaths. UN

A prion is an infectious agent hypothesised to consist of protein. This is in contrast to viruses and other known infectious agents, which all contain one or both of the nucleic acids, DNA and RNA. Prions propagate by transmitting a misfolded protein state. The prion induces existing, properly folded proteins in the host to convert into the misfolded prion form. Abnormal protein aggregates called amyloids accumulate in infected tissue and are associated with tissue damage and cell death.

Prion variants of PrP are associated with the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in mammals. Human prion diseases include Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker syndrome, fatal familial insomnia, kuru and variably protease-sensitive prionopathy. Prion diseases of other mammals include bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow disease") in cattle, scrapie in sheep, and chronic wasting disease in deer. All known mammalian prion diseases affect the structure of the brain or other neural tissue. All are progressive, lack an effective treatment and are inevitably fatal. Proteins showing prion-type behaviour are also found in some fungi. Fungal prions do not appear to cause disease in their hosts.

The West African Ebola epidemic was the most widespread outbreak of the disease to date. Beginning in Meliandou in southern Guinea in December 2013, it spread to adjacent Liberia and Sierra Leone, affecting the cities of Conakry and Monrovia, with minor outbreaks in Mali and Nigeria. Cases reached a peak in October 2014 and the epidemic was under control by late 2015, although occasional cases continued to occur into April 2016. Ring vaccination with the then-experimental vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV was trialled in Guinea.

More than 28,000 suspected cases were reported with more than 11,000 deaths; the case fatality rate was around 40% overall and around 58% in hospitalised patients. Early in the epidemic nearly 10% of the dead were healthcare workers. The outbreak left about 17,000 survivors, many of whom reported long-lasting post-recovery symptoms. Extreme poverty, dysfunctional healthcare systems, distrust of government after years of armed conflict, local burial customs of washing the body, the unprecedented spread of Ebola to densely populated cities, and the delay in response of several months all contributed to the failure to control the epidemic.

Viruses & Subviral agents: bat virome • elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus • HIV • introduction to viruses • Playa de Oro virus • poliovirus • prion • rotavirus • virus

Diseases: colony collapse disorder • common cold • croup • dengue fever • gastroenteritis • Guillain–Barré syndrome • hepatitis B • hepatitis C • hepatitis E • herpes simplex • HIV/AIDS • influenza • meningitis • myxomatosis • polio • pneumonia • shingles • smallpox

Epidemiology & Interventions: 2007 Bernard Matthews H5N1 outbreak • Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations • Disease X • 2009 flu pandemic • HIV/AIDS in Malawi • polio vaccine • Spanish flu • West African Ebola virus epidemic

Virus–Host interactions: antibody • host • immune system • parasitism • RNA interference

Methodology: metagenomics

Social & Media: And the Band Played On • Contagion • "Flu Season" • Frank's Cock • Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa • social history of viruses • "Steve Burdick" • "The Time Is Now" • "What Lies Below"

People: Brownie Mary • Macfarlane Burnet • Bobbi Campbell • Aniru Conteh • people with hepatitis C • HIV-positive people • Bette Korber • Henrietta Lacks • Linda Laubenstein • Barbara McClintock • poliomyelitis survivors • Joseph Sonnabend • Eli Todd • Ryan White