influenza type a?

Question

What exactly is Influenza Type A? There is a huge outbreak in my home town and my oldest daughter who is 6 was diagnosed with it today. Can someone tell me what it is exactly? and How serious it is or can be?

Answer 1

Technically speaking, there are two types of influenza (AKA "the flu") that regularly infect humans: type A and type B. They are differentiated based on various biochemical markers that I cannot currently recall but which are not usually of great clinical significance. The important biochemical difference between the two is the ability of type A to undergo what is called "antigenic shift." Basically, antigenic shift is what happens when some sort of susceptible animal, like a duck for example, is simultaneously infected with two different subtypes of type A influenza, usually with one of these types more commonly infecting other types of animals like humans or pigs. With the duck's cells’ now infected with two different types of virus each with its own separate set of unique DNA, a new form of the virus is free to form from a new mixture of the duck-preferring influenza type A virus DNA and the human/pig-preferring influenza type A virus DNA. This new subtype of Influenza type A virus may infect humans, it may infect ducks, it may infect pigs; it's hard to tell but what is important is that because this new virus is significantly different in many of its previously mentioned generally not-so-important biochemical markers, the immune system of whatever animal it does infect will not be familiar with it and so the new virus will have a much easier time infecting them and the disease course will likely be significantly worse.

This is not to scare you, however. This happens relatively rarely, at least to any extent that should be of concern for the average person infected with the flu. Most people who are infected with influenza type A are infected by the same old (or at the very least a very closely related) type of influenza type A virus that has always been infecting humans, and most influenza type A infections follow the same course of influenza type B infections. So practically speaking, being infected with "influenza type A" almost always just means, "you've got the flu" and the general course of aches and pains and fevers will last a weak or two and you'll get better. There is always a slightly increased risk with children and especially with the elderly, but unless they have some otherwise significant disease process already weakening them they will, most all of the time, be fine again in short measure.

Hope that helped some.

(By the way, the reason Influenza Type B cannot undergo “antigenic shift” is because it infects only humans and so there’s no other unusual form of itself from another species to mix its DNA with.)

Answer 2

Short answer: Influenza Type A is one of the two types of Influenza virus that circulate around the world. The yearly flu vaccine is formulated to cover what are predicted to be the two most common type A flu strains and most common type B flu strain for the coming year.

Type B Influenza viruses typically cause a less severe illness than Type A viruses... but as far as "Type A" being anything special, it's simply the group of more common and more pathogenic Influenza viruses. When people talk about "The Flu" or "Influenza" they're typically talking abou disease caused by Type A Influenza.

A lot of great info at the website below. Good luck.

Answer 3

This site should answer this really well for you....

http://www.medicinenet.com/influenza/article.htm