Influenza viruses cause respiratory illnesses which can vary in severity depending on the strain of the virus, as well as the age and health condition of the host. Influenza remains a major threat to public health due to its nature prone to suffer mutations. As a result, vaccines have to be reformulated annually and new strains may cause sporadic global pandemics. Furthermore, the recent emergence of resistant strains of the virus against the current standard of care (oseltamivir and zanamivir) underlines the need of novel anti-influenza therapeutics. The aim of this dissertation work is to contribute to the discovery of new anti-influenza inhibitors either by rational drug-design and optimization of oseltamivir structure, or by developing screening assays suitable for the discovery of novel inhibitors of the enzymes neuraminidase or RNA-polymerase. Scheme 1. Overview of the strategy used for the development of new anti-influenza therapeutics. The dashed arrows indicate the inhibitors that were converted into probes and their corresponding target enzymes Two main modification points were explored for the improvement of oseltamivir properties (Scheme 1); modifications at carbon C-3 aimed to overcome oseltamivir resistance caused by common mutations like H274Y, meanwhile modifications at carbon C-5...

Influenza viruses cause respiratory illnesses which can vary in severity depending on the strain of the virus, as well as the age and health condition of the host. Influenza remains a major threat to public health due to its nature prone to suffer mutations. As a result, vaccines have to be reformulated annually and new strains may cause sporadic global pandemics. Furthermore, the recent emergence of resistant strains of the virus against the current standard of care (oseltamivir and zanamivir) underlines the need of novel anti-influenza therapeutics. The aim of this dissertation work is to contribute to the discovery of new anti-influenza inhibitors either by rational drug-design and optimization of oseltamivir structure, or by developing screening assays suitable for the discovery of novel inhibitors of the enzymes neuraminidase or RNA-polymerase. Scheme 1. Overview of the strategy used for the development of new anti-influenza therapeutics. The dashed arrows indicate the inhibitors that were converted into probes and their corresponding target enzymes Two main modification points were explored for the improvement of oseltamivir properties (Scheme 1); modifications at carbon C-3 aimed to overcome oseltamivir resistance caused by common mutations like H274Y, meanwhile modifications at carbon C-5...

Vaccination is regarded by many as the most effective means of reducing influenza infection and disease; however, many people in the United States are hospitalized from flu-related illness each year. Adults 65 years and older account for more than half of these hospitalizations and almost all flu-related deaths. This project aimed to identify barriers to receiving the influenza vaccine among the adult population (> 65 years of age) in a community setting. The goal was to develop a teaching tool that would assist practitioners towards improving influenza vaccination rates among this population. The Health Belief Model was the theoretical framework utilized. The project was conducted at a primary care practice located in a community outside of New York City. Fifty participants (> 65 years) with no prior influenza vaccination were invited to take part in a short survey involving immunization status and reason for lack of influenza vaccination. Participants completed a researcher designed survey in a private location within the practice setting. Descriptive analysis was completed. Results revealed that 45 (32 females and 13 males) participants refused the influenza vaccine based on fear of becoming infected with the flu from the vaccine itself. The remaining 5 (males) participants based their refusal on never having the flu and therefore deemed the vaccine unnecessary. An educational handout was developed to aid in patient education related to influenza vaccination. Future implications involve the utilization of this tool by all healthcare worker and providers, as well as educating the target population in all community settings where influenza vaccines are administered, ultimately reducing the incidences of influenza and its associated complications by overcoming barriers to vaccination.

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The COVID-19 Pandemic has exemplified the weaknesses in science education. Americans struggle to understand the scientific process and why its findings change. This has caused skepticism to brew. Since museums serve their respective communities as translators of complex information, then they also must support the enhancement of science literacy. To enhance science literacy, digital content must first explain how science is relevant and then explain how the scientific process works. History institutions have the perfect opportunity to walk their audiences through a step-by-step process to understand the changing face of science better. This study accounts for a website I developed to 1.) put in practice some of the essential science literary lessons intuitions might use, and 2.) connect audiences with resources of the 1918 Flu Pandemic. The 1918 Flu Pandemic serves as a model for how history can help explain complex scientific ideas and their relevance to the present due to seasonal outbreaks of influenza and the COVID-19 Pandemic. / History

The purpose of this thesis was to identify causes of disparities in affliction (infection) and mortality for minority populations (Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indian/Alaskan Natives) during the Swine Flu (H1N1) and COVID-19 (Sars-Cov-2) Pandemics. A literature review was conducted gathering peer-reviewed journal articles related to racial and socioeconomic disparities in affliction and mortality during both pandemics. The model of Blumenshine et al. (2008) was used as a guide for the analysis of this thesis, and measures of exposure, susceptibility, and treatment were hypothesized as causes for the disparities experienced by the minority populations during the two pandemics. Ultimately, it was established that the causes of the disparities noted were found to be differences in social determinants of health experienced by minority populations including poverty, education, occupation, and housing location. Differences in each of these social determinants of health then led to disparities in exposure, susceptibility, and treatment. All of these disparities combined together caused disproportionate affliction and mortality for minority populations during both pandemics. Organizing disparities in terms of social determinants of health and identifying possible explanations for disparities is important for future pandemic planning, and the model of Blumenshine et al. (2008) is a structured way to hypothesize certain causes of disparities during a pandemic based on social determinants of health. Emphasis needs to be placed on developing a pandemic vulnerability index based on the measures hypothesized so that future pandemic planning can direct resources to those most vulnerable.

Yes / Coronavirus is the most dangerous virus in the world wide and it can easy spread between people, animals and plants because it is existing on one strand of RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) and it can duplicate faster than any virus. The source of coronavirus is still unknown, but some sources said that it came from seafood market and other sources said that it came from bat and snakes. It starts in Wuhan; China and every day the fatality increases. The symptoms are like a SARS-CoV (acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus)) and MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus). By using nucleotide sequence of coronavirus from NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) and some programs that ran on Matlab, the results show that there are some differences and similarities between coronavirus and other viruses such as Ebola, Flu-b, Hepatitis B, HIV and Zika especially for DEBs (distinct excluded blocks) program that shows at 5bp (base pair) there is a common with slightly difference between coronavirus “cgggg” and Ebola virus “cgtgg”. The aim from this study is to find a way to help doctors and scientists to stop spreading the coronavirus or to destroy it.

According to existing literature, there is a suggested correlation between certain vaccinations and oral cavity symptoms. Studies have shown that the Diphtheria, Tetanus, Acellular Pertusis, as well as Polio Vaccinations have an association with presented symptoms of bleeding gums, sores, ulcers, white spots in the mouth or on lips, and unpleasant breath odor. Although these symptoms may not occur simultaneously or directly after administration of the immunization, there has been supported evidence of correlation. Given the relevance of an association between vaccinations and orally manifested side effects, an investigation on the presence of such association with the widely administered flu vaccine was conducted. Data for this work was collected from a population including undergraduate students studying at the University of Central Florida. A brief voluntary online survey requesting demographic information regarding administration of the vaccine as well as any experienced side effects was used. The study was cohort in nature as it tracked subjects with known exposure to the flu shot in the past six months to understand the outcome of interest. Results from the survey were used to determine that there is no correlation between orally manifested side effects and administration of the flu vaccine.

The invention of the vaccine has been one of the greatest public health triumphs of the modern world. Each new vaccine has saved thousands - even millions - of lives worldwide, but this success has been fraught with controversy over the safety and even the effectiveness of vaccines. Vaccines have not always had a spotless safety record, but today’s vaccines are incredibly safe and continue to protect millions of people against diseases that have significantly declined or nearly disappeared from the developing world. It is this very success that has led many people to forget, or never discover, what those diseases are and how destructive they can be. This report tells the story of several families whose lives were deeply affected by vaccine-preventable diseases, accompanied with images that help tell their story. Following these stories is a broader discussion of the issues related to vaccines, the misunderstandings and misinformation that often circulate about them, a brief mention of their safety and efficacy, and a general discussion of many of the diseases they can prevent. / text

Charles University First Medical Faculty Study programme: History of Medicine Summary of dissertation The Spanish Flu Pandemic 1918/19 with particular reference to the Bohemian Lands and Central European relations Dr. med. univ. Harald Salfellner Prague, 2017 Summary Towards the end of the First World War, in 1918 and 1919, humanity faced a previously unparalleled flu pandemic; within a few months, more people had been killed than in all the battles of the 1914-18 war put together. The precise number of victims is unknown but is today generally reckoned at between 20 and 50 million. The whole world was affected by the Spanish flu, with the exception of a few remote islands, and Europe, already bled to death by industrialised warfare, was particularly hard hit. In summer 1918, the pandemic reached Bohemia in an early, relatively benign wave. A few weeks later, thousands were struck down in Prague in a second and far more deadly phase of the illness. In October 1918, as the First Czechoslovakian Republic arose from the ashes of the multiethnic Austrian state, and the masses celebrated in the cities, thousands of feverish patients were coughing behind drawn curtains, and facing an uncertain fate. In the USA, the flu pandemic - the greatest health disaster of the 20th century - has been the subject of many...