As I searched for articles to use in this week’s post about the flu, it seemed that most were about one of two things: the death-toll/severity of this year’s flu and efforts to make a more effective vaccine. These are major concerns of every flu season, as the virus is constantly changing and this makes it harder to develop vaccines against the “seasonal flu.” Although some people dismiss the seriousness of the flu because of how common and widespread it is, there are genetic characteristics that make this virus so deadly serious. Changes in the surface proteins of flu viruses are the reason that new flu vaccines are developed each year. These two proteins are called: hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA). HA is involved in the viruses ability to recognize and attach to our respiratory epithelial cells, whereas NA is an enzyme involved in the release of new viruses that have been made in our cells. When we see changes in these two proteins, usually in the form of mutations, we call it antigenic drift. A more drastic change in the virus is antigenic shift. This type of change is why we saw the swine flu in 2009. It occurs when the 8 RNA segments that make up the viruses genome rearrange, resulting in completely new versions of the surface proteins that our bodies have no previous immunity against.
Some of the symptoms of the virus are: fever, cough, muscle aches, fatigue, headache, and sometimes a runny/stuffy nose. The most common form of transmission is via respiratory droplets, although it can be transmitted via fomites (CDC). The severity and rate of the flu change every year depending on a couple of things: the effectiveness of the vaccine and how many people take preventative measures. Although the vaccine doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get the virus, it offers some protection. Dr. Loraine Cramer, a microbiologist at the University of North Carolina, says partial protection is better than no protection, meaning that it can afford your body enough immunity so that you don’t die from the virus. Protecting yourself from the virus also protects others from it, especially those that are more susceptible to it, such as those with impaired immune systems and young children. The easiest way by far, though, is practicing proper handwashing to prevent spreading the virus onto other surfaces or to yourself and others.
Vaccine effectiveness is always important to analyze with each flu season, as it is our best way to protect ourselves from the flu virus. Although measuring the vaccines effectiveness is done more accurately at the end of flu seasons, there are some reports available assessing the 2019-2020 vaccine. With so many different types and subtypes to consider, the vaccine can be a hit or miss. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, reported that this year’s vaccine is not the most effective match for type B/Victoria influenza, which most commonly affects young children (Cohen, n.p.). He also, like Dr. Cramer, says that despite this, the vaccine could still save your child’s life. According to the CDC, the vaccine is a 58% match for the B/Victoria strain. On the other hand, it is a poor match for H3N2, but a great match for H1N1. It is very difficult to predict what viruses will be seen in the next flu season because they undergo antigenic drift/shift so often. Each year, though, groups of scientists and doctors worldwide come together to make their best prediction at what the upcoming flu season has in store, but it is pretty much “a guessing game (Cohen, n.p.)”.
As for this flu season, there have been some stories that have scared me. My boyfriend’s mom, actually, told me that there was a woman working in her office with a mask and when she went to the doctor, she was found to have type B influenza. It pains me to admit this, but I have not gotten my flu shot in the past years, as I have a fear of shots that I have not been able to conquer. But, now that I am a microbiologist and have conducted this extensive research on the flu, I understand how serious the virus is and will plan to get my vaccine every year. (But even before the research, Dr. Cramer’s lecture in MICRO did a pretty good job at scaring me into getting the vaccine from now on, and for that I am very thankful).
Jaylin’s Thoughts: Microbiology 