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The Influenza Virus: Understanding Your Enemy

Summary & Participants

Most of us are familiar with the symptoms of the flu—fever, chills, fatigue, stuffy nose, sore throat. Most of us know that it is caused by the influenza virus. And we all dread it. But just what is the flu? What makes the influenza virus so contagious? Join our panel of experts as they discuss this tiny—and common—villain.

Medically Reviewed On: July 21, 2008

Webcast Transcript

DAVID MARKS, MD: Hi, and welcome to our webcast. I'm Dr. David Marks. The influenza virus, or the flu, infects more than 90 million Americans each year. Most people get better within a week or two, but some can develop life-threatening complications. About 100,000 people land in the hospital each year, and more than 20,000 of them die. So what exactly is this virus, and where did it come from? And what are its potential health risks?

Joining me to answer these questions are two experts. First is Dr. Jason Kendler. He's assistant professor of medicine at Cornell Medical Center. Welcome.

JASON KENDLER, MD: Thank you.

DAVID MARKS, MD: His colleague at Cornell Medical Center is Dr. Adam Stracher, also an assistant professor of medicine there. Thanks.

ADAM STRACHER, MD: Thank you.

DAVID MARKS, MD: What is a virus, to begin with?

ADAM STRACHER, MD: A virus is a very small living particle, that differs from bacteria because it's much smaller than bacteria, and it also differs from bacteria because it needs our cells, or the cells of another host to live within. It cannot live on its own.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Is it actually alive?

ADAM STRACHER, MD: It is alive. It is a living thing.

DAVID MARKS, MD: So the differences are, bacteria don't need us to live. But then can certainly live inside of us.

ADAM STRACHER, MD: Correct.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Now, influenza is a specific type of virus, correct?

JASON KENDLER, MD: That's correct.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Tell me a little bit about this type of virus.

JASON KENDLER, MD: The influenza virus is an RNA virus.

DAVID MARKS, MD: What does that mean?

JASON KENDLER, MD: It means that is the type of genetic material that it has. All viruses need to replicate themselves in order to cause infections and to spread infection from one host to another. The influenza virus in particular is spread by airborne spread, so that a patient who is infected with influenza will cough or sneeze, and can therefore transmit this to another host.

DAVID MARKS, MD: It comes up kind of cyclically during different seasons. Is it around all the time?

ADAM STRACHER, MD: Actually, here in our continent, and in this environment, it's around mostly in the wintertime. Actually between the late fall, around November, until March or April, basically in the winter. And that's, in the Southern climates, it's actually the opposite. It's there in their winter, which is opposite to ours. And in tropical climates, it is actually around all the time.

DAVID MARKS, MD: Why is it here in the winter?

ADAM STRACHER, MD: It's a little unclear. It probably has to do partly with crowding. People are all together often in the winter time, and so the virus is much more easily able to spread because of that. And it also probably lives better in cold, dry environments than it does in the summer time, in more humid environments.

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