*Influenza AH1N1*

INITIATING QUESTIONS:
1. What is an epidemic?
- A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease in which many people are infected at the same time, during a given period of time.

2. What is a pandemic?
- An epidemic that becomes widespread and affects a whole region, a whole continent, or the whole world, affecting all of its people.

3. What is an infectious disease?
- Any disease caused by invasion by a pathogen which subsequently grows and multiplies in the body.

4. What is a virus?
- Is a sub-microscopic infectious agent that is unable to grow or reproduce outside a host cell.

5. What makes the H1N1 virus a "novel" or "new" virus?
- That it didn't exist before, it's a new disease that was recently discovered and has been spreading worldwide.

6. How do viruses mutate?
- The only way they can reproduce is by infecting a cell, so they must be able to evolve faster than their hosts cells. If not, then the host cells would evolve to where a virus would no longer be able to infect. Cells change their surface receptors so viruses cannot attach; the viruses change their surface proteins so they can attach to the changed cell surface receptors. The viruses must always stay ahead of the evolution game. They are very, very good at this.
- Scientists have yet to figure out what causes the mutations, when they will occur and what makes certain viruses more lethal than others.

7. What does it mean that this virus has "parts" from other known swine flus, human flus and American bird flus?
- Scientists believe that the swine flu could combine with the bird flu, which has been circulating for several years and is much more deadly. The only advantage would be that it's less easily transmitted, but still, if it gets to the humans, then it would be easily transmitted.

8. How does that process happen?
- Because the flu has spread all the way to the Norhtern Hemisphere, where the bird flu is present, and if the swine flu infectates someone that already has the bird flu, the diseases could combine, forming stonger and more dangerous virus.

9. How is the flu vaccine created?
- About 20 companies worldwide are currently working in the production of flu vaccines. Right now, there hasn't been a production of swine flu vaccines, they're currently experimenting. The experiment consists in injecting a small amount of virus into each egg, since eggs are ideal for growing up flu viruses, and incubate them over the weekend. Then, they try to reverse the genetics, injecting another virus known as PR8. Another process, is injecting PR8, along with H1N1, so it creates bodies against it.

10. Why are some viruses transmittable from human to human while others are not (avian flu)?
- Bird flus recquire few mutations to spread rapidly between mammals by respiratory droplets, so it only transmits with humans that have a direct contact with birds. While it's easily transmittable from human to human, because once the flu has mutated, it stays that way and can infect another human being with the same properties.

11. How does Tamiflu work?
- By binding to and inhibiting one of the surface enzymes the virus uses to exit infected cells. "The virus is still able to replicate inside a cell, but is unable to get out and infect other cells."

12. Scientists worry that H1N1 might become resistant to Tamiflu. How might that happen?
- Since there are not enough Tamiflus for everyone, we might have to reduce the doses, which could accelerate the emergence of a virus resistant to the drug, and hamper efforts to spread the disease.


READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:

1. What is the most predictable thing about influenza?
- The nature of the viruses that cause it.

2. How many people have died in Mexico? (based on the article as well as on latest news)
- There have been 66 confirmed deaths.

3. Name 3 countries where swine flu has been confirmed in the last three days.
- India, Malaysia, and Turkey.

4. What are the symptoms of the swine flu?
- Fever, cough, sore throat, and nausea and can range from mild to deadly.

5. When was the outbreak of the Spanish flu?
- In 1918, after the World War l.

6. What percentage of the world population died of influenza then?
- It killed 50 million people, 1% of the global population.

7. Why was there an emergency vaccination program in 1976?
- Because there was one death and an emergency prevention program vaccinated 40 million people, before the complications provoked a public blacklash.

8. Name a few actions the Mexican government has done to curb the spread of swine flu.
- Schools were closed for a short time, and opened again the 6th of May. Many public places like the movies, and restaurants, where closed indefinitely. Currently, restaurants rae opened with the condition that they'll have to take extreme precautions to conserve hygiene for clients. Churches, theaters, clubs, and bars were also closed temporarily.

9. What were the consequences for Mexico and Mexicans due to the actions taken by the government?
- Our tourist economy has suffered the consequences. Every other country is avoiding the travel to Mexico, it'll take a lot of time to recover from this, maybe never.

10. What industries were particularly hard hit?
- All the public and touristic places, like hotels, restaurants, museums, fairs, cinemas, etc, because people don't attend and they're suffering an economical crisis.


DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Mexico has shut down schools and other public spaces; do you think that was the correct thing to do? Why or why not?
- Yes, because even though it was for a short time, it helped people become aware of the graveness of this disease, people'll be more precautious. Besides, it was a good way of avoiding the infection. The people who are already infected will have enough time to notice and attend their problem.

2. More people die from the regular flu than from swine flu, why do you think this became a big news story?
- Because it's something new that wasn't expected to happen. Also, because it's been happening worldwide and it 's spreading really quickly. Besides, it's believed that it could worsen and if we let the virus spread, it could kill many people, becoming a catastrophe that could be incontrollable.

3. Why did people stop visiting Mexico? Why have Mexicans been discriminated? Do you think the fear of the disease is justified?
- Because the first infection occured in Mexico, also because the infection spreaded to other parts of the world, thanks to Mexicans. So, people is angry at us, thinking it's our fault. I think discrimination is never justified, but I do think the fear is. Because, even though avoiding panick is the best we can do, I think that if we don't fear it, we won't be as careful about it.

4. What questions about individual and human rights does preventing the spread of flu raise?
- That we can't go out to public places and we are in a kind of lockdown, in which our human rights are violated, deprived of our freedom. For example, travel restrictions, which could also cause an economic chaos.