Signs/Symptoms of Disease
What does one see as the signs and symptoms of the disease in an individual?
Shannon Holfoth, Rachel Francis, Caitlin Moreland, Teresa Castiglione, and Katie VanUden write: A sign of symptom of a disease could have many after effects. One common result is a higher body temperature. Other signs could be swollen nodes or pains in infected areas. The reason our bodies react in this way is because we are infected with virus which is a bundle of genetic information. They attach themselves to our cells structures. The virus will either go in the cell entirely or just the genetic information will enter.The virus takes over the cell and uses certain parts to make complete virus and spreads out to other cells to attack.
Khadeeja & Sara write: The signs and symptoms of the disease seen in an individual are fever, cough, muscle aches, sore throat, and then they may develop many life-threatening complications such as viral pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress.
Dan Szyprowski writes: The signs and symptoms of contracting the H5N1 in a human are far worse then just getting the normal influenza A virus. It kills 50% of the people that contract the avian flu. This is what is very unusual about the progression of the flu, a boy with H5N1 experienced diarrhea and then quickly fell into a coma with out any of the normal flu like symptoms. The H5N1 flu virus induces higher levels of cytokines then the more common flu. This is called a “cytokine storm” because it causes the immune system to stimulate which causes damage to the body. There has been no actual common transmission to humans from birds but the ones that have become infected with the strain have had extensive physical contact with infected birds. The way that the virus can infect a host organism is that two different influenza viruses at the same time could infect the host causing recombination of their genes. The reception of the genes also relies on ones own genetic mutations in the hemagglutinin gene. The mutation in the hemmagglutinin gene causes a single amino acid substitution to alter the receptors of the host cells.
Mike Brown writes: Some signs and symptoms of the flu are headache, chills, dry cough,
body aches, fever, stuffy nose, sore throat, and fatigue.
What is the usual progression of the disease?
Khadeeja & Sara write: The usual progression of the disease is that it begins with symptoms common with those of influenza such as a fever and cough and progress into viral pneumonia and ARDS or acute respiratory distress syndrome which is sudden, and life-threatening lung failure.
Mike Brown writes: The flu has about a five-day incubation period during which the virus
settles in the lungs and the infected is contagious. At about day five
after infection, the symptoms, such as fever and chills, begin. The
symptoms generally last severely for about three days. Between the
tenth and fourteenth day after infection, the body begins to produce
antibodies and defeat the illness. At this point the symptoms go away
and the infected becomes immune to this strain of the flu.
How does a virus affect/infect our cells?
Mike Brown writes: A virus infects host cells by injecting their genetic material into
the host cells in the body. A virus affects human cells by mutating
them and making them hosts to the viruses DNA and thereby stopping the
host cell from performing it's function.