Influenza: Viral Virulence Read Online Free PDF Page A

her left had an unpleasant odor. Reaching up and turning the overhead air jet toward her, Victoria crinkled her nose and again hoped she could survive until her later flight. How many hours is this flight? she thought for the tenth time.
    The woman sitting behind her started coughing and sniffling. Victoria turned around and gave the woman a stern look before facing forward again. These seats are so uncomfortable , she thought, trying to recline the seat back a little. How she suddenly envied the people who were sitting in the luxury seats up toward the front of the airplane.
    As the plane filled up, she watched the working class file in and put their worthless belongings in the overhead compartments before taking their seats. Some of the passengers were actually wearing shorts and sweatshirts! She sank a little lower in her seat in disgust.
    The woman sitting behind her suddenly sneezed loudly.
    Don’t people have any manners? Victoria thought as she prepared for a less-than-perfect flight surrounded by swine.

    The virus was so small that it could only be seen under the lenses of an electron microscope. Made up of just a few DNA strands, the virus was neither alive nor dead, neither good nor evil. Unable to reproduce on its own, it could not live or propagate without hijacking another cell. Suspended in midair, surrounded by a micronized sphere of fluid, like a balloon, the virus traveled across the plane, propelled by the force of a sneeze. The small, circular particle of fluid was lighter than air, and it could travel a large distance before the fluid either evaporated or collided with another object.
    Unseen by the naked human eye, this particular virus-filled bubble floated through the air and then slowly descended. As Veronica inhaled, the small sphere was drawn up into her nasal passage. Completely unaware of the danger, Victoria continued to breathe. The bubble of fluid collided with the mucosal membrane lining her nasal passage. As the fluid burst, multiple viruses were released.
    Traveling in the cellular fluid, one particular virus attached itself to the nearest cell by receptors that its genetic code recognized. Firmly locked on to the cell membrane, the virus injected its genetic material into the cell. The code inserted itself into the cell’s own programming, and then, like a hacker in a computer, it reprogrammed the cell. Instead of building life-sustaining proteins, the cell now began to rapidly produce more copies of the virus until it ran out of resources and room. Reaching capacity, the cell burst, releasing hundreds of thousands of new viruses, which proceeded to attach themselves to other uninfected cells.
    The body’s normal immune-response cells were confused. They had been “trained” by a recent vaccine to recognize and react to certain infections, but this was not one of them. The body’s natural defense response was hindered. Unable to identify the virus as a malignant invader, the body did not fight it but rather took a backseat as the virus infected cell after cell, producing millions of viruses that started circulating around the body.
    Then, a small strand of additional genetic information broke off from the vaccine itself. As it also was only visible under the lens of an electron microscope, hardly anyone knew that this tiny bit of DNA existed. The strand of information attached itself to the immune cells and turned the cells, like a light switch, to the off position. Without a functioning immune system, the influenza virus, along with any other pathogens, ran rampant.

Chapter 4
    The bar was a typical college destination, not designed for sitting and eating but for the mass consumption of alcohol, particularly the cheap beer that came in plastic cups. This beer was well within the budget of most college students. The establishment, with its drab wood paneling on the walls, housed a couple of pool tables in the back room. During weekend nights, the entire place was so jammed with college