Essays on Viruses

Usually most people have heard of influenza, or in other words the flu. The flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza that infect the nose, throat, and even the lungs. There are three different types of the influenza virus which are: influenza A,...

Mosquitoes belonged to the family of nematocerid flies which was the Culicidae (from the Latin culex, genitive culicis, meaning “midge” or “gnat”). Female mosquito was responsible to carry the vector that leads to the disease spread. There were 3000 species of mosquitoes but there were...

The Immune system is the body’s overall defense system against harm causing invaders, that come from the outside world, that are able to inter the body one way or another. The immune system is not an organ or two that do all the work, but...

Dengue fever is a disease which is caused by a family of viruses transmitted by mosquitoes. It is an acute illness of sudden inception followed by the symptoms such as headache, fever, exhaustion, severe muscle and joint pain, swollen lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy), and rash. The...

Millions of people are chronically infected with HBV worldwide despite the use of an effective vaccine. Those infected are at a high risk of developing liver cancer. Although current therapeutic regimens exist that can efficiently suppress viral replication of HBV, the virus has a unique...

Has anyone ever wondered how biotechnology has become a part of everyone’s lives, and how this will keep leading the world towards a better and brighter future? Over the past 10,000 years, biotechnology has been used in many ways. Biotechnology has been applied to numerous...

The patient presenting genital warts in cauliflower shape leads me to a diagnosis of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection due to immunosuppression secondary to untreated past infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This virus is the only recognized cause of this condition therefore a differential diagnosis...

Viral Disease: Structure: Viral diseases are often associated as not living as they do not move and stay on the outside of a hosts cell. They are made up from strands of nucleic acids, these consist of either DNA or RNA, which are surrounded by...

Polio also known as poliomyelitis was an infectious disease caused by a virus that occupied the throat and intestinal tract. It spread through person-to-person contact along with spreading through feces, and sneezing from an infected person. Polio affected humanity throughout recorded history, it attacks the...

The term “virus” has been used as a catchall phrase for many threats. Essentially, a virus is a computer program that, like a medical virus, has the ability to replicate and infect other computers. Viruses are transmitted over networks or via USB drives and other...

A microorganism is a living organism and they can only be seen through a microscope. Bacteria Bacteria cells are prokaryotic cells (single celled organisms). Bacteria cells have a variety of different organelles including a single circular strand of DNA, plasmids (small rings of DNA), a...

Introduction Bluetongue virus is from the genus Orbivirus in the family Reoviridae. Bluetongue virus is a non-zoonotic disease of ruminants like sheep, cattle, and deer that is believed to have originated in South Africa as early as the 18th century. This virus was first known...

Human papilloma virus (HPV) can appear just about anywhere on the body. The most common locations are mouth, anus and genitals where moist mucous membranes exist. Some common symptoms are warts, small, big, white, beige or brown skin growths and even several different types of...

Dengue Fever Virus (DENV) is one of the life-threatening diseases which are caused by pests that transfers infectious agents from a living organism to another that causes serious illnesses. It has become the most endemic tropical disease in the Philippines especially during rainy season, starting...

Since the rapid rise and spread of the Zika virus, search for a vaccine has ensued. While the virus causes mild symptoms in most, its association with severe birth defects in pregnant women, notably abnormal fetal brain development and microcephaly, to Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults...

In the late 2000 – 2010, Canada had to go through an outbreak of infectious diseases (SARS and H1N1). They both cause respiratory illness but differ with regards to a variety of properties. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a respiratory illness that first situated...

The Anna Kournikova worm Anna Kournikova (named by its author as “Vbs.OnTheFly Created By OnTheFly”) was a computer worm written by a 20-year-old Dutch student named Jan de Wit who called himself ‘OnTheFly’ on February 11, 2001. It was designed to trick email users into...

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a vector born disease that was discovered in Ugandan monkeys in the 1940s. It was not until the 1950s that it was found that ZIKV was transmittable to humans. Mosquitos transmit it when they bite humans. This disease is more common...

This review, we mainly focus on zoonotic encephalitides caused by arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) of the families Flaviviridae (genus Flavivirus) and Togaviridae (genus Alphavirus) that are important in both humans and domestic animals. Specifically, we will focus on alphaviruses (Eastern equine encephalitis virus, Western equine encephalitis...

Pneumonia is a disease in one or both lungs caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi. However, bacterial pneumonia is the most common type found in adults. Pneumonia causes alveoli, which is inflammation in the air sacs in your lungs. The alveoli can make breathing difficult...

Introduction Until now, viruses have been seen as nothing but damaging, dangerous and detrimental to our health. Since their discovery in 1892 they have been perceived as a global health threat; not a remedy or possible treatment for one of the leading causes of mortality...

Influenza pandemics are global outbreaks that result from new variations of the influenza virus emerging in global populations. In order for this to occur, the virus must be easily passed from person to person and cause serious illness to the human body. Major pandemic outbreaks...

Transmission of pathogenic human disease can occur under many different circumstances. One mode of transmission that is of interest to people is the transmission of microbes on surfaces. A surface for transmission can range from a doorknob to our very own hands. Nonliving surfaces involved...

The Zika virus is transmitted through the Aedes mosquitoes however there’s been cases where the virus has been transmitted through sexual intercourse. This virus usually causes mild infections; it also includes some symptoms such as muscle pain, rash, itching all over the body and fevers...

Chickenpox is a thing that has affected many people in the past and even now in the present. It was discovered in the 1500s by a man named Giovanni Filippo who lived in Italy. Later on in the 1600s Richard Morton, an English physician, was...

Human Immunodeficiency Virus, simply know as HIV, is a virus that infects the immune system cells that defend against viruses and converts them into viruses and reproduces theses same virus cells. With less immune system cells it becomes harder to stay in good health. The...

Abstract H1N1 Swine flu is a subtype of the influenza A virus, which differs from other strains (H1N1, H1N2) in the surface glycoproteins hemagglutinin and Neuraminidase. Primarily, it is thought to have the spread of this novel virus through respiratory droplets; Coughing, Sneezing, touching respiratory...

The Zika virus is spread through mosquitoes, more specifically Aedes mosquitoes. The name Zika came from the Zika forest in Uganda. The Zika virus was first discovered in 1947 in monkeys and apes, but the first human cases of Zika showed up in 1952 in...

Marburg Virus: Still a World Leading Mortality Virus.On the dawn of 1967, an infected monkey imported from Uganda infected some German scientist in a lab with an unknown virus. Later discovered to be the marburg virus, panic, terror and death has being under it power.Formerly...

“The work of epidemiology is related to unanswered questions, but also to unquestioned answers” – Patricia Buffler. The science that reviews when and where infections happen and the manner in which they’re communicated in public is named Epidemiology. The study of disease transmission started inside...