Influenza

Influenza (or as it is commonly known, the flu or the grippe) is a contagious disease, caused by an RNA virus of the orthomyxoviridae family. It rapidly spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics, imposing considerable economic burden, in the form of health care costs and lost productivity. Major genetic changes in the virus have caused three influenza pandemics in the 20th century, killing millions of people. The name comes from the old medical belief that unfavourable astrological influences cause the disease.

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Disease: A disease is any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected or those in contact with the person. Sometimes the term is used broadly to include injuries, disabilities, syndromes, symptoms, deviant behaviors, and atypical variations o...

RNA virus: An RNA virus is a virus that either uses RNA as its genetic material, or whose genetic material passes through an RNA intermediate during replication. For example, Hepatitis B virus is classified as an RNA virus, even though its genome is double-stranded DNA, because the genome is transcribed into R...

Orthomyxoviridae: Influenzavirus A...

Influenza related Images and Photos (experimental)

Caricature of the Influenza Epidemic of 1820 circa 1889