Avian (Bird) Flu, Seasonal Flu, Pandemic Flu

(Help protect your family, staff, patients from harmful airborne pathogens, contaminants, pollutants.)

Considerable attention has been given recently to the prospect of an influenza pandemic sweeping the globe and causing serious illness and death. The following questions and answers will help give you a better understanding of what an influenza pandemic is.

• What is influenza ("the flu")?
• How is influenza spread?
• What are the symptoms of influenza?
• What are the health impacts of influenza?
• What is the best way to avoid getting influenza?
• What is avian influenza ("bird flu")?
• What is the bird flu that has caused illness in domestic birds and some humans in Asia?
• What do "H" and "N" refer to when identifying a virus?
• What is a pandemic?
• What is an influenza pandemic?
• What causes an influenza A virus to change and result in a new strain?

What is influenza ("the flu")?
Human influenza, or the flu, is a respiratory infection caused by the influenza virus. There are two types of influenza viruses that cause outbreaks each year: influenza A and B.

How is influenza spread?
The influenza virus spreads through droplets that have been coughed or sneezed into the air by someone who has the flu. You can get the flu by breathing in these droplets through your nose or mouth, or by the droplets landing directly on your eyes. You can also contract the virus by shaking hands with infected people or by touching contaminated surfaces then transferring the virus to your own eyes, nose or mouth.

What are the symptoms of influenza?
Influenza typically starts with a headache, chills and cough, followed by a fever, loss of appetite, muscle aches and fatigue, a running nose, sneezing, watery eyes and a throat irritation. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea may also occur, especially in children.

What are the health impacts of influenza?
Most people recover within a week to 10 days. Some individuals - including those over 65 years old and adults and children with chronic conditions such as diabetes and cancer - are at greater risk of more severe complications, such as pneumonia. On average, about 4,000 Canadians die of influenza and its complications each year, and in severe seasons the number of deaths may be as high as 8,000.

What is the best way to avoid getting influenza?
Immunization provides the best protection for many illnesses, including influenza. Each year, millions of Canadians receive the influenza vaccine, or "flu shot," to avoid contracting influenza illness when viruses circulate in the community during the fall and winter season.

You can reduce the risk of catching or spreading influenza by practicing basic hygiene:

• Wash your hands regularly with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds, especially before and after eating, after going to the bathroom, after coughing and sneezing and after touching surfaces that may have been contaminated.
• Cough and sneeze into a tissue or your sleeve to avoid spreading the virus though infected droplets or contaminating your hands with the virus.
• Throw away used tissues promptly.
• Frequently clean and then disinfect household surfaces such as door handles and light switches that may have been contaminated.
• Encourage all members of your household, especially children, to follow these practices.
• If you do get the flu, stay at home and rest until you are feeling better.

What is avian influenza ("bird flu")?
Wild waterfowl are natural carriers of influenza A viruses. Usually these avian influenza (" bird flu") viruses carried by wild birds cause them little or no harm.

Other birds such as domestic poultry and animals, including pigs, can also contract and transmit influenza viruses.

What is the bird flu that has caused illness in domestic birds and some humans in Asia?
Currently, an avian influenza H5N1 strain is circulating in Southeast Asia and parts of Europe, infecting many poultry populations and some humans. This strain of influenza is "highly pathogenic," meaning it is highly deadly to poultry. The H5N1 influenza virus has infected a limited number of people, but there is no evidence it is spread from person to person.

What do "H" and "N" refer to when identifying a virus?
Influenza viruses are classified by the characteristics of two surface proteins: hemagglutinin, or "H" protein, and neuraminidase, or "N" protein. There are 16 H types and 9 N types that can exist in any combination. Some combinations are more pathogenic (deadly) to birds, but this does not mean they are more likely to cause disease in humans.

What is a pandemic?
A pandemic is the worldwide outbreak of a specific disease to which people have little or no immunity.

What is an influenza pandemic?
An influenza pandemic can occur when a radical change takes place in an influenza A virus, causing the emergence of a new strain against which people have little or no immunity. If this new subtype, or strain, has the ability to spread easily from person to person, many people around the world could become ill and possibly die. This is referred to as an influenza pandemic.

What causes an influenza A virus to change and result in a new strain?
One way a new strain can emerge is if a person sick with a human influenza virus also becomes infected with an avian influenza virus and the two viruses re- assort, or "mix." This means that the avian influenza virus acquires some of the human influenza genes, potentially creating a new subtype of influenza A virus against which people have no immunity. Another way a change can occur is for an avian influenza virus to undergo a number of changes or mutations resulting in the ability of the new strain to infect people and be transmitted among humans.

Help protect your family, staff, patients from harmful airborne pathogens, contaminants, pollutants.

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Description

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