Influenza, a public health problem. What everyone should know

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Published: Dec 22, 2013
Keywords:
influenza virus, virological diagnostic, vaccinacion, prophylaxis against influenza

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Agnieszka Woźniak-Kosek
Zakład Badania Wirusów Grypy, Krajowy Ośrodek ds. Grypy, Narodowy Instytut Zdrowia Publicznego – Państwowy Zakład Higieny w Warszawie
Jarosław Kosek
Klinika Otolaryngologii, Wojskowy Instytut Medyczny w Warszawie
Bogumiła Kempińska-Mirosławska
Zakład Historii Medycyny, Farmacji i Medycyny Wojskowej, Katedra Nauk Wojskowo-Medycznych, Uniwersytet Medyczny w Łodzi

Abstract

In our climate zone the present winter-early spring time favours spreading the upper respiratory infections and flu. Many people claim that the flu seems to be not difficult to recognize thanks to very rapidly growing and rapidly occurring symptoms such as fever (usually above 38°C), myalgia, headache, and persistent hacking cough. However, similar ailments can be caused by infection by other viruses. These include parainfluenza viruses, adenoviruses, rhinoviruses, etc. It is estimated that more than 200 pathogens in total may be responsible for symptoms similar to those of influenza. Where appropriate, a virological diagnosis can be performed in a patient, i.e. steps taken to define a specific pathogen, located in the material collected in swabs from the upper respiratory tract of a sick person. In the past virus culture methods in chick embryos were used for this purpose that were complicated, time-consuming and therefore not useful in practice. Although studies of this type are still performed, they are giving way to modern techniques utilizing the achievements in molecular biology and genetic engineering, which were originally used only for research, and now have practical usage. This paper describes the basic knowledge on the structure of influenza virus, its diagnosis, and prevention methods in treatment.

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How to Cite
Woźniak-Kosek , A., Kosek , J., & Kempińska-Mirosławska , B. (2013). Influenza, a public health problem. What everyone should know. Alergoprofil, 10(1), 10-18. Retrieved from https://journalsmededu.pl/index.php/alergoprofil/article/view/781
Issue
Vol 10 No 1 (2014)
Section
Article

Copyright: © Medical Education sp. z o.o. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.

Address reprint requests to: Medical Education, Marcin Kuźma (marcin.kuzma@mededu.pl)

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