CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -World Health Organization. Global Influenza Strategy 2019-2030.

Detailed explanation-2: -The goal of the strategy is to prevent seasonal influenza, control the spread of influenza from animals to humans, and prepare for the next influenza pandemic. The new strategy is the most comprehensive and far-reaching that WHO has ever developed for influenza.

Detailed explanation-3: -The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919.

Detailed explanation-4: -What is influenza? We know now that influenza, or flu, is caused by a virus – but for many years it was thought to be caused by a bacterial infection. In 1892, German scientist Richard Pfeiffer isolated a small bacterium from the noses of patients with flu, naming it ‘bacillus influenzae’.

Detailed explanation-5: -Today, seasonal epidemic outbreaks of influenza affect up to 1 billion people each year, causing 3 to 5 million severe cases and up to 650 000 deaths annually due to respiratory diseases.