Category Archives: Short Articles

Influenza or the flu, a highly contagious respiratory illness, is caused by a group of enveloped, RNA-containing viruses with virions of circular (~100 nm in diam.) or filamentous (~300 nm in length) appearance. They can be zoonotic in nature as they can also infect many species of wild (e.g., aquatic birds) and domesticated animals

Undeniably, smallpox was among the most dreaded of all infectious diseases! It killed millions around the world each year. As nearly 80% of those infected would die, parents dared not count their children as their own until they had survived the regular and inevitable outbreaks of the infection.

Even among other viruses, human noroviruses (HNV) are small (~27 nm), but they pack a powerful pathogenic punch! Globally, they sicken nearly 300 million people every year with acute gastroenteritis (diarrhea and vomiting), and kill approximately 200,000, mainly as a result of severe dehydration.