The structure of Swine Flu

Swine flu is an example of such a change. But what are these changes and what parts of the virus causes the damage that destroys normal healthy cells?

The H1N1 designation of the swine flu virus gives us a clue to the inner workings of the virus. It represents the major functional proteins on its surface.

The ‘H’ stands for hemagglutinin which is a protein that binds the swine flu virus to the cell and injects its content into it.

The ‘N’ stands for neuraminidase which possesses a number of specialized enzymes that causes the infected cells to release the newly formed viruses.

All these aspects of swine flu make it potentially very dangerous. Even though the form that is currently spreading is relatively mild it could still change into a virulent strain in the next few months before winter arrives. The fact that it’s also a new disease means that there is no current vaccine for swine flu. So if it becomes more deadly, we will have no protection against it except for those provided by generic anti-viral drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza.

For more information look at:
http://www.swine-flu-facts.org
http://www.swine-flu-facts.info