Swine Flu Terms You Must Know – Glossary of Swine Flu Terms

Swine Flu is rampant in many countries now and people are learning about the disease from several credible resources.This article tries to explain some important terms which will prove handy while reading about Swine Flu from different resources.

1. You may read : ” Swine Flu is an infection by any one of the several types of swine “influenza” virus.

What is Influenza?
Influenza or Flu is an infectious disease which speads through the air by cough and sneezes.

The symptoms of the disease are chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort.

2. You may read: “Influenza A,B,C are “genera” of inflenza viruses.

What is Genera of a virus?
It is the plural form of a biological term genus. A genus is term used in the classification of living and fossil organisms.

3. You may read:”The new strain was initially described as an apparent “reassortment” of atleast four strains of inflenza A virus subtype H1N1.

What is reassortment?
Two similar viruses may infect a single cell. Then, in the cell the genetic materials of both the virsus mix and generate new virsus with shared properties of their parent virsus.This process of mixing of genetic materials of virsus producing new strains of viruses is called reassortment.

4. You may read:”For 60 years,Swine influenza “strains” were almost exclusively H1N1.

What are Strains?
It is subtype of a micro organism like virus,bacteria or fungus.For example, a “flu strain” is a certain biological form of the “flu” virus. Strains are produced when genetic materials get mixed of two similar organisms producing an organism with new genetic sequence.

5. You may read:”H3N2 evolved from H2N2 by “antigentic shift”".

What is Antigenic Shift?
Antigenic shift is the process where at least two different strains of a virus combine to form a new subtype virus.

6. You may read:”Swine influenza virus SIV is any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is “endemic” in pigs.

What is Endemism?
Endemism is the state of being unique to a particular being,location,habitat or zone. To be endemic to a being means that it is found only in that being only and nowhere else.

7. You may read: “Direct transmission of a swine flu virus from pigs to human is occasionally possible called “Zoonotic” swine flu”.

What is Zoonosis?
A zoonosis is any infectious disease that can be transmitted from non-human animals, both wild and domestic, to humans.

8. You may read:”Carrier Pigs infect SIV into uninfected herds.So new animals should be “quarentined”".

What is Quarentine?
Quarantine is voluntary or compulsory isolation to contain the spread of something considered dangerous,like communicable disease.

9. You may read:” A “differential diagnosis” of probable swine flu requires not only symptoms but also a high likelihood of swineflu due tot he person’s recent hsitory.”

What is Differentail disgnosis?
A differential diagnosis is a systematic method used to identify unknowns. This method basically involves the process of elimination and is used by scientists to identify living organisms.The present research is to learn about the unknown virus causing Swine Flu using such techniques.

10. You may read:”According to “CDC”, in humans the symptoms of the 2009 swine flu H1N1 virus arte similar to those of inflenza and if influenza like illness in general.”

What is CDC?
It stands for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.It is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services based in Atlanta.It works to protect public health and safety of the people of the United States.

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