** Influenza AH1N1 **

1. What is an epidemic?
*An epidemic occurs when new cases of a certain disease occur in a given human population, during a given period, substantially exceed what is "expected," based on recent experience.

2. What is a pandemic?
*It is an epidemic of infectious disease that spreads through populations across a large region; for instance a continent, or even worldwide.

3. What is an infectious disease?
*It is a clinically evident disease resulting from the presence of pathogenic microbial agents, including pathogenic viruses, pathogenic bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular parasites, and aberrant proteins known as prions.

4. What is a virus?
*It is a sub-microscopic infectious agent that is unable to grow or reproduce outside a host cell. Viruses infect all types of cellular life.

5. What makes the H1N1 virus a "novel" or "new" virus?
* It has been recently discovered, and it is a new virus that is spreading from person-to-person, sparking a growing outbreak of illness in the United States. An increasing number of cases are being reported internationally as well.

6. How do viruses mutate?
*The only way they can reproduce is by infecting a cell.
*Cells change their surface receptors so viruses cannot attach; the viruses change their surface proteins so they can attach to the changed cell surface receptors.
*The viruses must always stay ahead of the evolution game.

7. What does it mean that this virus has "parts" from other known swine flus, human flus and American bird flus?
*Because it has similar synthoms and there have been epidemics/pandemics of flu viruses which humans have little immunity to in the past, it is believed that they might combined and cause a terrible disease.


8. How does that process happen?
*In the same way that seasonal flu spreads. Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing by people with influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.


9. How is the flu vaccine created?
*Right now, there are only experimenting with them and there are real vaccines.

10. Why are some viruses transmittable from human to human while others are not (avian flu)?
*Because in the case of birds, it would need few mutations to spread rapidly between mammals by respiratory droplets.

11. How does Tamiflu work?
*"The virus is still able to replicate inside a cell, but is unable to get out and infect other cells."

12. Scientists worry that H1N1 might become resistant to Tamiflu. How might that happen?
* They would have to reduce the doses.

1. What is the most predictable thing about influenza?
*The way that the viruses that cause it are created.

2. How many people have died in Mexico? (based on the article as well as on latest news)
*66 people confirmed until now.

3. Name 3 countries where swine flu has been confirmed in the last three days.
* India, Malaysia and Turkey

4. What are the symptoms of the swine flu?
*Fever (usually high)
*Headache
*Tiredness (can be extreme)
*Cough
*Sore throat
*Runny or stuffy nose
*Body aches
*Diarrhea and vomiting (more common among children than adults)

5. When was the outbreak of the Spanish flu?
* After the WWI in 1918.

6. What percentage of the world population died of influenza then?
*1 % of the global population, about 50 million people.

7. Why was there an emergency vaccination program in 1976?
*Because there was one death.

8. Name a few actions the Mexican government has done to curb the spread of swine flu.
*They closed schools for about 7 days, they closed restaurants and bars. The cinema was also closed. They also made comercials about the hygiene.

9. What were the consequences for Mexico and Mexicans due to the actions taken by the government?
*That the other countries avoid to travel to Mexico, so the tourism is going down.

10. What industries were particularly hard hit?
*Restaurants, Hotels, Bars, museums, etc. All the public places.

1. Mexico has shut down schools and other public spaces; do you think that was the correct thing to do? Why or why not?

* Yes, because then you prevent to transmit the virus between the people that are in contact with each other.


2. More people die from the regular flu then from swine flu, why do you think this became a big news story?

* Yes, because this was not expected.


3. Why did people stop visiting Mexico? Why have Mexicans been discriminated? Do you think the fear of the disease is justified?

*People stop visiting Mexico because they are afraid of swine flu, thats why mexicans are also being discriminated. Yes because I think that without fear, we wont protect and then we could get the flu.


4. What questions about individual and human rights does preventing the spread of flu raise?

*The repression of freedom because we can´t go out.