How does influenza attack the body?

Answer 1

Influenza, or "flu," is a caused by a virus infecting the respiratory system, meaning your nose, throat, bronchial tubes, and lungs. Flu symptoms are usually more severe than those of the common cold and are more likely to affect other parts of your body. Flu also tends to come on suddenly, while colds can take a while to develop.

Flu is very contagious, spreading easily from one person to the next. Most people with healthy immune systems will get over the flu within 2 weeks, but young children, older adults, and people with chronic illnesses are more likely to develop complications such as pneumonia. About 35,000 people die of flu each year in the United States.

There are three types of flu viruses: A, B, and C. Type A viruses are the ones responsible for worldwide epidemics, such as the one in 1918 that killed as many as 50 million people worldwide. The avian or bird flu is a type A flu virus.

The best way to protect yourself from the flu is to get an annual vaccine (flu shot).

Influenza is caused by viruses that are spread through the air by sneezes and coughs, or by touching a surface a person with the flu has touched and transmitting the virus to your mouth or nose. Some flu viruses cause a very mild illness, or none at all. Others cause serious, widespread illness.

Since there are many types of influenza virus, and because they change over time, a new flu vaccine is offered every fall. Getting vaccinated before the flu season starts reduces your chances of getting the flu and helps you recover faster if you do get it. You should not take the vaccine if you have a severe allergy to eggs, because the viruses for the vaccines are grown in chick embryos. See Risk Factors for list of people who should get the

Answer 2

Viruses are non-living organisms that use the cells of a living plant, bacteria, fungus, or animal host to provide the proteins and enzymes and "factory" to make copies of itself. The virus attaches to the cell wall or moves through it to get inside a living cell and is able to incorporate the genetic material it carries, that has strands of RNA or DNA, into the host cell. That will be accepted by the cell, and in response, the cell will then begin to follow the instructions from the virus and will no longer do its prior function for the host. As more viruses are produced by the host's cells more and more new host cells are invaded, Until the immune system can get rid of the virus, those damaged cells will cause symptoms in the host.

The presence of the virus is noticed as a foreign substance by the host's immune system and the process of ridding the host of the invaders will begin. This produces the by- products of "dead" viruses and dead host cells and their contents that have leaked out of the broken cell membranes. The strain on the host from just fighting the foreign organisms weakens the host further. This, and the loss of the original function of the host cell that got diverted from its usual job to do the viruses' bidding, are the things that cause our bodies to react with the symptoms of the flu.

Answer 3

it attacks the immune system and eventually the lungs

Answer 4

Any kind... it may be a plant cell or it may be an animal cell

the cell could also be a prokaryotic cell (no cell membrane) or it can be a eukaryote cell (has a cell membrane)

Answer 5

The virus attacks the cardiovascular system not certain cells.

Answer 6

throught cells