Showing posts with label Influenza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Influenza. Show all posts

Monday, March 14, 2011

Symptoms And Facts About Influenza

Flu, or more officially, influenza, is a viral disease which normally happens in the winter but could also occur in the summer due to drinking cold water. This type of disease can be very contagious, and it may become a problem if a large number of people contract it. Influenza is a viral disease, which means it can be spread between many different people easily. Have you heard of the influenza epidemic of 1918? During the epidemic life nearly stopped in American society because nobody knew how to control influenza. Its symptoms appear suddenly and it has some symptoms which are similar to the common cold.

A number of symptoms that are common to the flu are sneezing, runny nose, headache, earaches and sometime chills. Most often, influenza lasts around seven days. This illness is very common now and scientists do know how to keep it from getting as bad as it did in 1918. The reason why influenza is not a problem anymore is because of the creation of vaccines. In 1918 there was no technology that was strong enough to detect a virus and with modern developments, we not only can spot a virus, we can cure it as well. There is a flu shot given to most infants and children to help prevent influenza and because of this shot, many lives have been saved.

If an infant were to contract it, then there is a much higher risk of death. The infants' immune systems aren't as strong as adults', and thus, they have a much higher risk of death due to the fact that their immune systems can't fight it off. If you find that your child is displaying some of the symptoms listed above, then bring your child to a medical specialist as soon as possible. It can become complicated if the flue appears in young children because it leads to cough and other respiratory disorders in small children. So an eye must be kept out for the possibility of the child catching the flu. Listed below are some general facts that you should be aware of.

? Once you reach 65 years of age, never forget to take the flu shot in autumn. If you have asthma, heart disease, or diabetes then contracting the flu can cause you serious problem so don't be negligent to this small disease.

? Make sure you perform daily exercises and constantly eat a good balanced diet. If you keep your body healthy, then you also help your immune system. If your immune system is healthy, then you will be to more successfully fend off the flu and fight it in the event that you do contract it.

? Wash your hands with a hygienic soap. Use of antibacterial soap may lessen the chances of flu. Try to avoid touching your nose or mouth if possible.


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Monday, February 21, 2011

Treating Influenza With Prescription Drugs

Influenza, also known as flu, is a viral infection caused by a virus of the RNA family. There are 3 virus-types of flu - type 'A', type 'B' and type 'C'. The type 'A' virus is the most deadly and pandemic. Subtypes of influenza 'A' are H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2, out of which the H1N1 variety is medically tested to be the most dangerous to humans. The classification is made on the basis of 2 surface proteins - hemagglutinin (H) and neuramidase (N). So H1N1, for instance, means the virus contains hemagglutinin variation 1 and neuramidase variation 1.

Type 'B' and type 'C' variants are not so dangerous and they do not contain viruses that have antigenic features. So humans are usually able grow immune to these two types very early.

Treating influenza

Treatment of flu is very difficult because of the nature of the flu virus. The highly infectious flu viruses are mutable. So they keep changing genetically, giving very little time for drugs to act quickly and effectively. Once infected, the viruses multiplies in living cells via viral binding. The flu virus travels through air and also through body contact. The World Health Organisation has approved Tamiflu as a preventive and therapeutic medicine for the treatment of influenza. Relenza is another medicine which is applied for treating flu. But Relenza is contraindicated for people who have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Tamiflu

Tamiflu, manufactured by Roche Pharmaceuticals, is an effective prescription medicine for prevention and treatment of influenza. It has oseltamivir as its active ingredient. The medicine has been proven effective for treating human flu, bird flu and swine flu. Available in doses of 75mg, the drug prevents flu by attacking the base of the flu virus, preventing it from multiplying. If applied for flu prevention, Tamiflu oseltamivir kills the virus with the help of body proteins. The medicine should be taken as follows:

within 48 hours from the outbreak of symptomsthe entire course of treatment must be completedfor treatment, the recommended dose is 75mg capsules twice a day for 5 daysfor prevention, the recommended dose is a capsule daily for minimum of 10 days

If you take the medicine within 48 hours from noticing the first symptoms, you're likely to get relief from the flu symptoms.

Relenza

Relenza is a powerful antiviral medicine intended for providing relief from the symptoms of influenza. It should work effectively for swine flu, bird flu and common flu. The medicine comes in a powdery form, to be inhaled twice every day for five days or once every day day for 28 days. The treatment should start either as soon as or no later than two days from the symptoms appear.

You should not take Relenza if you are allergic to Zanamivir or any of the active ingredients the medicine contains. Stop taking the medicine if you gasp for breath and waste no time in calling your doctor.

Webmaster associated with online clinic "HealthExpress" this site provides various information on Tamiflu & Relenza and helps people in curing Influenza, resources are available on site HealthExpress.co.uk.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ajay_Dumasiya


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