The H2N2 strain of influenza type A, known as the Asian flu, is a viral respiratory disease caused by a cross between an avian influenza virus and a human influenza virus. It caused a worldwide pandemic from 1956 to 1958, with symptoms similar to other strains of flu. A vaccine was introduced in 1957, and the virus became part of the regular seasonal flu wave until it disappeared from the human population in 1968.
The Asian flu, commonly known as the Asian flu, is a viral respiratory disease caused by the H2N2 strain of influenza type A. The H2N2 Asian flu is the result of avian influenza, i.e. an influenza normally found in birds , crossed with a human influenza virus. The Asian flu causes symptoms similar to many other strains of flu, including fever, body aches, chills, cough, weakness, and loss of appetite. The Asian flu was responsible for a category 2 influenza pandemic from 1956 to 1958, meaning that it was a worldwide spread of the virus with a case-fatality ratio between 0.1 and 0.5 percent. H2N2 became extinct in the wild around 1968.
Influenza is a disease caused by many subtypes that can change, mutate and interbreed with other strains. Occasionally an avian or animal flu can rearrange its genetic material, cross the animal-human species barrier, and begin infecting the human population. The H2N2 Asian flu was the result of a cross between a virus found in wild ducks and a human influenza virus.
The Asian flu causes many of the symptoms commonly reported in a flu virus. Influenza is a respiratory disease, so a dry cough, sore throat, and difficulty breathing are all widely reported among flu sufferers. The flu usually causes a high fever and body aches or chills. An individual may have no appetite and subsequently lose weight. Recovery from H2N2 can take many weeks; complications include pneumonia, seizures, heart failure, and death.
The Asian flu caused a worldwide pandemic in 1956, when the virus passed from ducks to humans and then began human-to-human transmission. It originated in Guizhou Province, China and traveled to Singapore and Hong Kong. From there, the Asian flu virus spread to the rest of the world. Although the disease has infected humans worldwide, it has remained a relatively mild pandemic and is classified as a category 2 in the United States Centers for Disease Control’s Pandemic Severity Index table. This chart ranks pandemic influenza from one to five, from mild to severe, based on the number of flu deaths reported in the United States
In 2, a vaccine for H2N1957 was introduced and the pandemic slowed down. There was a second wave in 1958 and H2N2 continued to become part of the regular seasonal flu wave. In 1968, the H2N2 Asian flu disappeared from the human population and is believed to have gone extinct in the wild. Vials of the H2N2 flu remain in laboratories around the world.
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