FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA SALUD

ESCUELA DE BIOANALISIS
DEPARTAMENTO DE IDIOMAS
ASIGNATURA: INGLÈS INSTRUMENTAL DE BIOANALISIS
SEDE ARAGUA

READING COMPREHENSION 2
(20 %)

Names: __Miriamger Gonzalez (31744712) Section: _4__ Date: _14/02/2025_

Emily Henriquez (30091107)

_____________________________

Read the following text “INFLUENZA”

Influenza is a respiratory disease with symptoms that to two days after a person becomes ill.
last one to two weeks.
The incubation period from first infection until the
Types of influenza symptoms include: onset of symptom is 1 - 4 days, averaging two days, in
adults who will shed influenza virus beginning one day
 A fever or feeling feverish (although not everyone before they start to have symptoms through the next
with the flu has a fever)
5 - 10 days. (These figures are probably the same for
 A cough and/or sore throat otherwise healthy teenagers.) Young children and
severely immunocompromised persons can shed
 A runny or stuffy nose virus for longer periods.
 Headaches and/or body aches Treatment
 Chills Treatment for the flu starts with bed rest, drinking
clear fluids such as water, broth, electrolyte beverages
 Fatigue
(sports drinks) to prevent dehydration, and taking over
 Nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea (most common in -the-counter medicines to help with symptoms. A
children). humidifier can also make breathing easier. Salt water
gargles (1:1 ratio warm water to salt) will help with
The flu and the common cold have similar symptoms
sore throats. Fevers and aches can be reduced with
and it can be difficult to tell them apart. In general, the
over-the-counter pain relievers and wet cool
flu is worse than the common cold. Symptoms such
washcloths applied to forehead, arms and legs. For all
as fever, body aches, tiredness, and cough are more
medications, be sure to read the label and don't take
common and intense with the flu. People with colds
too much. Pharmacists can be helpful if there are any
are more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose. Health
questions. Be especially careful of acetaminophen
care providers have a test that can determine whether
(Tylenol®) because it is found in many combination
a patient is suffering from the flu or a common cold.
preparations and overdosing can cause serious liver
Prevention damage. Note that antibiotics do not protect against
viruses such as the flu. However, they can be helpful if
The flu spreads when an infected person coughs,
a secondary bacterial infection develops.
sneezes, or talks and droplets containing the influenza
virus are inhaled by another person. The flu can also The most common complications of the flu are
spread when a person touches an object or a surface bacterial pneumonia, ear and sinus infections,
which has the virus on it and then touches his or her dehydration, and the worsening of chronic illnesses.
mouth, eyes or nose. Seek medical attention immediately if any of the
following symptoms appear:
The best defense against the flu is vaccination. Other
preventive measures are to live a healthy life style and  Fever over 102 degrees or fever lasts longer than
particularly get enough sleep and to eat well. Stay three days
away from people who are ill. When exposed, see a
physician about getting an antiviral drug. These drugs
 Difficulty breathing, wheezing when breathing, or
shortness of breath
are more effective the sooner they are taken and can
be beneficial to reduce symptoms if they are taken up  Purple or blue discoloration of the lips
 Pain or pressure in the chest, abdomen or neck;  Seizures
severe head-ache;
 flu symptoms that worsen each day;
 Sudden dizziness
 Flu-like symptoms that improve but then return with
 Confusion fever and worse cough.

 Severe or persistent vomiting

The Seasonal Flu
Despite vaccines and advances in modern medicine, However, and very fortunately, it is very hard for this
every year three hundred million to one billion virus to spread from one person to another – it
people world-wide get sick from the flu; that's cannot spread through the air or casual contact
between 5 and 15% of the human population. between people. The virus is found in some
Seasonal flu is a mild to severe disease. Some migratory bird populations. Recently, some
years are worse than others but the seasonal flu scientists have suggested that this rate is too high
causes between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths each based on the fact that only serious cases will be
year. Most susceptible are the elderly, the reported to international public health authorities,
chronically ill, and the very young. Actually, spread see Dread Reckoning: H5N1 Bird Flu may be less
over the world, the deaths from flu are less than deadly to humans than previously thought--or
one-tenth of one percent of the population (or less not by Helen Branswell Scientific American,
than 1 in 1000). The U.S. is not immune from February 14, 2012. But even if mortality estimate
influenza. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for H5N1 is off by 75%, the resulting death rate of
estimates that each year 41,400 Americans die 14% would be about 5 times higher than the
from the seasonal flu. 1918/1919 pandemic which had a death rate of
greater than 2.5%.
Vaccines protect people from getting sick but they
don't kill the viruses that continue to live in various Because the H5N1 virus has not developed the
animal population reservoirs. Animals harboring ability to spread easily from person to person and it
influenza virus such as wild birds, pigs and has been around since 1997, scientists have had
chickens can have few symptoms or they are not time to develop a vaccine against it that is safe and
sick at all. The viruses mutate frequently and some effective. If the virus mutates in a way that makes
of these mutations allow them to cross from one the vaccine ineffective, it will take several months
species to another. Other mutations may make an to develop a new vaccine and in that time millions
existing human virus more communicable or more of people could die. However, just as there is no
deadly. way to accurately predict how deadly and
communicable the next mutation of the influenza
Each year scientists are on the lookout for new
virus might be, there is no way to predict the
influenza viruses. They create vaccines for these
effectiveness of new ways of combating its spread
new viruses and put the vaccinates into the flu
or new ways of treating the disease.
shots that many people get each fall. Hopefully, the
doctors find all the new viruses, but sometimes
The Flu Pandemics of the Last 100 Years
they don't. It is also possible that a new virus that is
very infectious and very lethal, like the virus A pandemic is a disease that occurs over a wide
portrayed in the movie Contagion, will spread geographic area and affects an exceptionally high
before the doctors even know it exists. portion of the human population. In the last 100
years there have been four influenza pandemics.
An example of how close disaster can come is the
They are compared to the seasonal flu in the
H5N1 Avian flu virus that first appeared in 2002.
following table.
Scientists rate the danger of a strain of a virus
using two measures: how infectious it is (how
easily it passes from one person to another) and
how lethal it is (what percentage of people die once
they become ill). World Health Organization (WHO)
confirms that as of February 2012, 584 people had
contracted H5N1 and that 345 of those people died
of the disease. That's a mortality rate of 59%.
* Some estimates are that as many as 100 million people died of the Spanish Flu.
** These are from verified
% of world Death
Name Years People infected
population
Deaths
rate
lab results and probably are
substantially under reported.
Seasonal Every 300 million to 1 The actual numbers are
5-15% 250,000–500,000 < 0.1%
Flu year billion thought to be much higher.
1918 -
Spanish Flu 500 million 33% - 40% 20 to 50 million* > 2.5%
1919

1956 - over 20 years. All of these

Asian Flu ? ? 2 million < 0.1% numbers are approximate.
1957

Hong Kong 1968 - The 1918/1919 outbreak was

? ? 1 million < 0.1%
Flu 1969 dubbed the "Spanish Flu"
because reporters in Spain, a
2009 - 14,000 –
Swine Flu 622,000** .000009% 0.03% country which was not a
2010 18,000**
combatant in WW I, were not
Influenza epidemics can exhibit different infection focused on reporting the war and were the first to realize
patterns from the seasonal flu which kills the elderly, the that a new and dreadful disease was killing people. The
chronically ill, and very young children. The Spanish Flu strain of influenza responsible for the pandemic didn't
was most deadly for people ages 20 to 40. It struck down originate in Spain nor was it any worse there than in other
the strong and vigorous. People sometimes died rapid places.
deaths, sometimes within hours of the onset of
symptoms. Entire families were wiped out; in other Scientists have recently been able to reconstruct the
families, just one or two people survived. Children lost Spanish Flu virus from samples preserved in wax and
their parents, parents lost their children, husbands their tissues from people who were frozen in the Alaskan
wives, etc. The emotional toll on the survivors was permafrost and recently unearthed. It appears to have bird
devastating. The deaths were painful. One physician genes which means that it jumped from birds to humans.
described his patients as dying while "struggling to clear There are, on the average, three influenza pandemics
their airways of a blood-tinged froth that sometimes
every century. Dr. Robert Webster, a renowned virologist
gushed from their nose and mouth." Diary of Isaac Starr, a
has stated that "All the genes of all influenza viruses in
third year medical student recruited to street victims.
the world are being maintained in aquatic birds, and
Outbreaks swept the globe. In India the mortality rate was periodically they transmit to other species...The 1918
50 deaths per 1,000 people. Doctors of the time were
viruses are still being maintained in the bird reservoir. So
powerless against the disease. The influenza virus was
even though these viruses are very ancient, they still have
not even identified until 1933.
the capacity to evolve, to acquire new genes, new hosts.
Public health officials of the affected areas were unable The potential is still there for the catastrophe of 1918 to
to stop the spread of the disease. They tried everything
happen again.
they could think of from distributing gauze masks to
prohibiting stores from holding sales, limiting funerals to
15 minutes, banning meetings, restricting entry into the
town, to name a few. Nothing worked. There was also a
lack of health care workers due to illness or death. There
was also a shortage of coffins and bodies piled up in
morgues and funeral homes.

Scientists now think that most of the deaths from the

1918/1919 flu pandemic were the result of secondary
bacterial pneumonia. Bacteria from the nose and throat
were able to infect the lungs because the virus damaged
the bronchial tubes and the lining of the lungs. With the
development of antibiotics that can treat pneumonia, later
pandemics have caused many fewer fatalities.

Lasting a little over a year and killing between 20 million

and 50 million people, the Spanish Flu was one of the
worst pandemics in history. It compares to the Plague of
Justinian, 541 – 590 A.D., in which 25 - 100 million lost
their lives over 50 years, the Black Death of 1348-1351 in
which 62 million lives were lost in about three years, and
the current AIDS epidemic in which 34 million have died
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: 2PTOS C/U

1) Influenza is a disease of the respiratory system lasting one or two weeks. NAME FIVE of the seven
most common types of symptoms of the disease. One type of symptoms is most common in children;
identify it in your answer.

a) A cough and/or sobre throat.

b) A runny or stuffy nose.

c) Fatigue.

d) Headaches and/or body aches.

e) Chills.

f) Nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea (most common in children).

2) Describe the two major ways in which influenza is spread.

a) The flu spreads when an infected person cough, sneezes, or talks and droplets containing the influenza virus are inhale by another person

b) The flu can alson spread when a person touches an object or a surface which has the virus on it and the touches his or her mouth, eyes or
nose.

3) What are the usual treatments for influenza?

Treatment begins with bed rest, drinking clear líquidos such as water, electrolytic drinks (Prevent

dehydration), gargling with salt water, and pain relievers for fever and pain.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

4) The most common complication of influenza is pneumonia. WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF SYMPTOMS of
an influenza attack that indicate that an immediate visit to a doctor or to the Emergency Room is
necessary? Name eight of symptoms.

a) Purple or blue discoloration of the lips.

b) Pain or pressure in the chest, abdomen or neck; severe head-ache.

c) Sudden dizziness.

d) Confusion.

e) Severe or persistent vomiting.

 f) Fever ver 102 degrees or fever last longer than three days.

g) Seizures.

h) Difficulty breathing, wheezing when breathing, or shortness of breath.

5) How many people catch THE SEASONAL FLU and HOW MANY does it kill in the U.S. every year?

Despite vaccines and advances in modern medicine, every year three hundred million to once billion People
world-wide get sick from the flu; that's between 5 and 15% of the human population.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that each year 41.400 Americans die from the seasonal
flu.

6) There are TWO MAJOR CRITERIA used to evaluate the danger posed to mankind by an influenza virus.
WHAT ARE THEY?

Scientist rate the danger of a strain of a virus using two measures: how infectious it is (how easily it passes
from one person to another) and how letal it is (what percentage of People die once they become ill).

7) WHAT IS A PANDEMIC and HOW OFTEN HAVE INFLUENZA PANDEMICS APPEARED DURING THE LAST
CENTURY?
A pandemic is a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a exceptionally high portion of the
human population. In the last 100 years there have been four influenza pandemics.

8) The Spanish Flu of 1918/1919 was the worst pandemic of the last 100 years infecting some 500 million
people, at that time more than one-third of the world population. HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED WORLD-
WIDE FROM THE SPANISH FLU AND WHAT WAS THE DEATH RATE AMONG THOSE INFECTED?

Lasting a little over a year and killing between 20 million and 50 million people, the pandemics in history.

9) Spanish scientists are able to reconstruct the Spanish flu. WHAT DID THEY DISCOVER FROM SPANISH
FLU VIRUS SAMPLES PRESERVED IN WAX AND TISSUES?

Scientists discovered that it had bird genes, meaning it jumped from birds to humans.

10) When was the influenza virus discovered?

The influenza virus was not even identified until 1933.