The rapid mutation of influenza viruses and the uncertainty of which strains are circulating is why annual flu vaccination is essential. Boosting your immunity with vaccines and treatments and practicing good personal hygiene are key to preventing the flu.
‘Tis the season for flu vaccinations. We’ve been hearing a lot in the news lately about the potential for a major flu pandemic. If you go back a few years, there was even a time when the world was affected by swine flu. As you can see, the flu is a constant presence in our lives. However, the common perception of the flu is that it’s just a nasty cold. However, unlike a simple cold, the flu can cause serious complications, which can be fatal, especially for the elderly and children with weakened immune systems. Therefore, flu prevention should be recognized as a very important issue, not only for personal health, but also for public health. Let’s take a look at the prevention and treatment of influenza, the epitome of viral infectious diseases.
Influenza, or influenza, is a viral disease, so in order to explain influenza, we need to explain viruses. To put it as simply as possible, a virus is a mass of organic matter that contains a specific set of instructions. These specific instructions can be summarized in two words. “The instructions necessary to carry out these two commands are written into the sequence of nucleic acid molecules, and a capsid made of proteins surrounds these core nucleic acid molecules. This is the most basic structure of a virus.
Influenza, the disease we’re talking about in this article, is also caused by an influenza virus. There are three main types of influenza viruses: influenza A, B, and C. Influenza A is the most common type we encounter. You’ve probably heard the names H1N1 or H5N1 in the news, and that’s what influenza A is. The H (hemagglutinin) and N (neuraminidase) in these names refer to the specific proteins contained in the capsid of the viruses described above. There are 18 different types of H and 11 different types of N, and the combination of these proteins determines the type of virus. In other words, there are 198 theoretical types of influenza A viruses. Understanding the structure and characteristics of viruses is an important foundation not only for flu treatment, but also for virus research and vaccine development in general.
Can knowing the type of virus help prevent the flu? One of the most common things we hear about the flu is that we need to get vaccinated again during every flu season. This is usually attributed to the fact that influenza viruses mutate rapidly, and a year later, they’re a completely different strain. However, this is only partially true. Another reason for vaccination is that we don’t know what kind of virus will be circulating. As we explained earlier, there are 198 different strains of the influenza A virus. Of these, there are about 10 species that are most commonly transmitted to humans, and we don’t know which of these will be prevalent until the flu season is near, so we need to have the right vaccine to protect against them. Vaccines also work to activate the immune system. When the vaccine is injected into the body, the immune system recognizes certain proteins in the virus and produces antibodies against them. In fact, the flu pandemic that occurred in the spring of 2015 was caused by this very prediction. This, along with the fact that even when the same species is circulating, it mutates into a strain that is quite different from the original virus a year later, is why it is necessary to vaccinate against the flu every year.
Despite immunization policies, no year goes by without flu cases. That’s why, in addition to vaccines, there are many treatments for influenza. Tamiflu is one of the most common. Tamiflu is so effective that the CDC recommends giving it within 48 hours to patients at high risk of complications. Tamiflu works by acting on the N protein of the influenza virus, which we discussed earlier. The role of the N protein is to help the virus be released from the cell after multiplying, and by inhibiting this process, Tamiflu prevents further spread of the virus. However, rather than relying on a cure, prevention is key. Strengthening immunity through vaccination and practicing good personal hygiene are essential to stopping the spread of the flu.
As you can see, the principles of prevention and treatment of flu, a viral disease, are based on the scientific characterization of the influenza virus. This is true not only for diseases like the flu, but for all diseases that humans can contract. After all, understanding and studying viruses is key to continued medical progress. The more accurately we can study and predict viral mutations, the more effective vaccines we can develop. This is why advances in basic science are necessary for medical progress.
