Lecture 12: Flu and Vaccines Flashcards
What is a genetic drift?
when influenza virus alters itself just enough to require manufacturers to slightly adjust the previous year’s vaccine formula.
What is antigenic shift?
a form so new of virus that the existing vaccine is no use as a base for a new one, and prior infection provides no defense.
What is the results of antigenic shift?
pandemic.
What is the mechanism of transmission of H7N9, H5N1?
both viral strains bind only to cells deep in the lung and do not pass from person to person.
What family of RNA virus cause influenza?
Orthomyxoviruses
What are the characteristics of influenza?
- spherical or filamentous enveloped particles 80 to 120 nm in diameter.
- The helically symmetric nucleocapsid consists of a nucleoprotein and a multipartite genome of single-stranded antisense RNA in segments.
What encloses the nucleocapsid of influenza?
an envelope consisting of a lipid bilayer and two surface glycoproteins, a hemagglutinin (HA) and a neuraminidase (NA).
What is the role of HA Protein?
involved in attachment and membrane fusion in the endosome of the infected cell.
What is the receptor binding site of the flu?
in a pocket that is not exposed to the immune system.
What is on the surface of the flu virus?
antigenic domain
What can happen to the antigenic domain?
These can be altered and the virus can thus avoid a humoral response without affecting its ability to bind to the receptor.
What is the role of the NA Protien?
cleaves the attachment between hemagglutinin on the viral surface and the sialic acid receptor on the host cell membrane, thereby facilitating the release of the virion from the cell.
Where is the NA protein located?
surface of the virus
How can the viral spread decreased?
Inhibition of neuraminidase
How can you determine the particular virus?
The internal antigens (M1 and NP proteins) are the type-specific proteins (type-specific antigens) used to determine if a particular virus is A, B or C
What is the difference between type A-C?
In types A and B the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase antigens undergo genetic variation, which is the basis for the emergence of new strains; type C is antigenically stable.
How can the virus be inactivated?
by nonpolar solvents and by surface-active agents.