1918 Influenza Pandemic Definition Biology

The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history.

1918 influenza pandemic definition biology. The influenza pandemic of 1918 19 the most destructive influenza outbreak in history and one of the most severe disease pandemics ever encountered was caused by a subtype of influenza a known as h1n1. 3 the pandemic lowered the average. In the united states it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. 1 2 3 4 an unusual characteristic of this virus was the high death rate it caused among healthy adults 15 to 34 years of age.

The disease course was frequently less than 5 days 1. When an influenza a virus undergoes an antigenic shift a pandemic affecting most of the world can occur within a matter of months. Lasting from february 1918 to april 1920 it infected 500 million people about a third of the world s population at the time in four successive waves. An influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that spreads across a large region either multiple continents or worldwide and infects a large proportion of the population.

Most deaths were caused from secondary bacterial pneumonia due to a lack of antibiotics 1. Pandemic viruses at the influenza research database. This pandemic is estimated to have been responsible for the deaths of 50 100 million people. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated it spread worldwide during 1918 1919.

The 1918 pandemic virus was an h1 subtype influenza. Teks tersedia di bawah. Influenza is caused by a virus that is transmitted from person to person through airborne respiratory secretions. The ha receptor binding site consists of a subset of amino acids that are invariant in all avian has but vary in mammalian adapted has.

Pandemic flu in america 1918 1920 by dorothy a. There have been five in the last 140 years with the 1918 flu pandemic being the most severe. Influenza virus infection requires binding of the ha protein to sialic acid receptors on the host cell surface. It was caused by an h1n1 virus with genes of avian origin.

The impact of pandemics is not merely a matter of the biology of the particular virus in individuals. The spanish flu also known as the 1918 flu pandemic was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic caused by the h1n1 influenza a virus. An outbreak can occur if a new strain of influenza virus emerges against which the population has no immunity. The influenza pandemic of 1918 19 resulted from such an occurrence and affected populations throughout the world.

The 1918 pandemic virus however also killed quickly and directly with a violent viral pneumonia often with either massive acute pulmonary hemorrhage or pulmonary edema. The 1918 h1n1 flu pandemic sometimes referred to as the spanish flu killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide including an estimated 675 000 people in the united states.