Humans are constantly coming into contact with all types of viruses. In fact, today, you will find that there are plenty of viruses that can affect humans. And while most of these viruses usually do minimal to moderate damage, others can stricken us severely.

Here are just a few of the common viral infections we may come into contact on a regular basis:

The Common Cold

The common cold is a virus. Each year, practically everyone catches a cold, whether it is a cough, sneezing, runny nose, it is a good chance that it is due to the virus that causes Acute viral rhinopharyngitis.

Influenza

Each year hundreds of millions of people catch the flu. The flu is usually a different strain each year and can evolve from the previous year’s strain or be a new strain that has jumped from an animal that we closely associate with such as chickens or pigs.

Chicken Pox

For a majority of children, one of the viruses that is extremely common is Chicken Pox. The virus is called varicella zoster virus. This virus normally affects children and can cause a skin rash with small open sores called pox marks. While pretty benign in children, for adults that contract the Chicken Pox, this virus can be severe.

Warts

Most people do not know that warts are a virus that affects the skin. Many times people with immuno deficiencies are apt to warts, however, healthy people will usually get a wart or two in their lifetime. In addition to the common skin wart, genital warts is a sexually transmitted virus affecting the sexual organs of a man or woman.

Common Sexual Viruses

Besides genital warts, other types of viruses that are transmitted sexually (through exchange of body fluids when two people are having sex) are Herpes and HIV.

Mononucleosis

More commonly referred to as mono, this virus may be transmitted from one individual to another. However, many are born with this virus present in their system and when a person has low immunity, this virus may flare up.

Cold Sores

Cold sores are another type of common virus called Penciclovir. While it is not associated with side effects common with the flu, it can cause sores around the mouth that are unattractive.

There are many types of viruses that can infect a human, and while each virus affects a human differently, there are a variety of effective treatments available. This article will focus on common viruses that are known to be highly contagious including the common cold and influenza. It should be noted that while there are many viral infection treatments available for these viruses, generally speaking, even without treatment, these viruses may pose a minimal to moderate risk for average healthy adults.

Our Body’s Natural Defense Against Viruses

Before we talk about pharmaceutical viral infection treatments, we should note that viruses are made from complex proteins and our bodies have evolved natural defenses of these proteins throughout our evolution. In fact, when we are a fetus, our mother passes down this information to us- so we are born usually with a strong enough immune system to counter a large variety of common viruses. It should also be noted that breast milk also includes important anti bodies to fight both bacteria and viruses. While our bodies have natural defenses for many viruses, if we don’t have them, we can get them in to ways. The first way is through vaccination, receiving dead virus material which will help our body come up with a natural defense against it. The second way is that when we become infected with a live virus, our body has the ability to create defenses to kill it, while it may take a few days, usually our bodies are efficient enough to create a defense before a virus can do real harm to us.

General Treatment for a Viral Infection

If you have been infected with a common virus such as the common cold or influenza, generally treatment consists of:

Influenza Vaccination – One of the best preventive measures one can take to protect against being affected by influenza is to be vaccinated. A vaccination shot is actually dead material of the current influenza strain. This alerts your immune system and while the dead virus doesn’t have a way to infect your body, your body’s immune system will work hard to come up with ways to destroy this strain of virus, so if you come into contact with a live strain, your body is prepared.

Plenty of Rest – As your body fights the virus, it needs to conserve energy. Most people will already feel low in energy- your body’s way of conserving energy as it fights the virus.

Drink Plenty of Liquids - Your body may have risen its temperature- as a defense against viruses and bacteria in your body and may be fighting hard to kill the virus, two tasks that take up the body’s energy and fluids. In order to help your body fight the virus, drink plenty of fluids, such as hot tea, water, a decent amount of juice (which has vitamin C and other vitamins), etc.

Take Over the Counter Medications to Lower Fever – If you are experiencing a fever, you may want to consult with a doctor and ask if it could be helpful to use over the counter medications to lower your fever. Generally speaking, a high fever should be treated even if you are fighting a virus.

Lozenges - If you are experiencing a sore throat or cough, a lozenge or sucking candy can be helpful in coating the throat so that your throat no longer feels abrasive or burns when you cough or swallow.

An Important Note About Antibiotics

Viruses do not respond to antibiotics. It is very important to note that if you have the flu, antibiotics will not be helpful in killing a virus, antibiotics only work on bacteria. The reason this aspect of treating a virus is important is that as more and more people take antibiotics, it actually causes the bacteria it normally fights to become resistant and stronger. This is why the antibiotics of decades ago are no longer effective against today’s bacteria. Slowing down usage of antibiotics can have the affect of slowing down a bacteria’s resistance to it.

Antiviral Drugs – There are new antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu which can be helpful in lessening the severity of a virus. These types of drugs are usually prescribed to those with weakened immune systems- the sick, elderly and children.

Viruses are quite common and affect practically every living human. While there are numerous viruses, only a select few can do real damage to a human being. Not only is each virus different, but the way that each virus affect each human is different as well. Here is some general information on viruses and the symptoms they may show when they infect a person.

As stated above there are numerous viruses and while some spread through the air and by a person inhaling them through their lungs or a virus finding its way through an orifice, others require body fluid contact to spread (ex. HIV spreads effectively from blood to blood contact). It should also be noted that a virus is sometimes compared with bacteria, however these are two very different things. A virus is not a self sustaining living organism that feeds off a host like bacteria. A virus is basically genetic information that finds a host’s cells and hijacks these cells for the purpose of reproducing. This is why, where a bacterial infection may be localized, viruses are generally systemic- affecting an entire body.

For this article’s purposes, we will focus on viral infection symptoms of the most common types of viruses, cold and flu viruses. These viruses generally only affect a person minimally to moderately, unless the host body does not have the proper defenses to protect itself yet (a baby) or has diminished capability of protecting itself (such as the old and ill).

In general, the viral infection symptoms that a person is experiencing are not those being caused by the virus itself, instead the viral infection symptoms is your body’s response to trying to eradicate it. This is why for most humans, some of the biggest viral infection symptoms are: coughing, sneezing, a runny nose, body temperature, swollen lymph glands, loss of energy, flushed face, etc. Your body is designed to fight viruses and bacteria. For the wide variety of viruses that affect our body including the common cold and the flu, our body creates antibodies which can be descriptively described as soldiers that find foreign material in the body such as a virus and latch on to it to destroy them.

When our body is attacked by bacteria and viruses, it is able to defend itself in numerous ways. This is why for most humans, the first alert to being stricken with a virus is not the results of damage done by the virus, but by our own immune system fighting back and killing off the virus.

Fever - The body raises the temperature a few degrees from 98.6 F to 100, 101, 102 or more to kill off a virus.

Runny Nose – A person may exhibit a runny nose when he or she has a cold or the flu. The reason being is that a runny nose is made up of white blood cells, an immune system reaction to not only carrying materials that can kill a virus, but also removing dead materials of the virus and the body’s immune system outside of its body.

Cough and Sneezing – Again, the material that is coughed up or sneezed is usually the dead virus along with materials that are currently fighting the virus.

Swollen Lymph Glands – The body produces antibodies- material that helps to kill a virus in the lymph glands. When the lymph glands are working hard they are swollen. Lymph glands are found under the arm, back of the neck and below the chin.

Aches, Pains and Loss of Energy – Obviously, as your body works hard on killing a virus it diverts energy away from other activities. This is why we exhibit a loss of energy and become dehydrated quickly. The body’s loss of water can be one of the factors of aches and pains throughout the body.

It is important to remember that viruses are not only different, but affect each person differently, so if you come down with the common cold or the flu, the symptoms you will exhibit will vary.

With the media focusing constantly on the Swine Flu epidemic, more and more people are becoming interested and concerned about contracting this and other types of viruses. Viral infections are not new to the human body. In fact, since the dawn of man, we have been susceptible to both viruses and bacterial infections. With today’s medical innovations, we are able to counter a wide variety of viruses that have decimated humans in the past, however from time to time, a new virus is introduced to humans and can have a devastating effect on the many that it infects.

What is a Virus?

Unlike bacteria which are a living organisms, a virus is something different. In fact, a virus are made up of simple genes that instead of having their own cell and other aspects of life, are usually found to have information which can help them hijack a living cell and use that cell to reproduce itself and spread. This fact is why antibiotics which are effective in killing most bacteria do not affect viruses.

How Does a Virus Become Introduced in the Human Population?

The origins of most viruses are unknown; however there is evidence to suggest that many viruses that have a detrimental affect on humans have been transmitted throughout millennia from animals that we closely associate with. For instance, chickens have transmitted quite a few types of viruses to humans, one of them being SARS. Another animal that is also associated with spreading viruses to humans is the pig. Recently, it has been suggested that the pig transmitted swine flu to humans, however this has not been verified as of yet.

So, one of the ways that a virus is introduced to humans is through animals that have similar biology to us and that we are in close proximity with. It should also be noted that newly introduced viruses can in some cases be the ones that are most detrimental to humans due to the fact that our body does not have a defense for it.

Defending Ourselves from Viruses

When a human is a developing fetus, the mother is able to transfer information to the child’s immune system on how to defend itself from viruses. Viruses are made mostly from proteins, so our body has created a natural defense, anti bodies that are able to lock onto certain virus proteins and destroy them. The information that tells the immune system how to attack specific viruses is usually shared from the mother to child. In addition, when we are young, most children are immunized with a vaccination. A vaccination is usually slightly altered (dead) viruses that do not pose a threat to a human body. However, when this foreign “dead” virus is introduced into the human body, our bodies think they are a threat and immediately come up with defenses to kill it. Therefore, if we do come into contact with a “live” virus of the same variety such as the measles, mumps, etc, we are able to destroy it before it poses a serious threat to our health.

The Causes of Viral Infections

For some viruses, our bodies do not have a natural defense for. In these cases, our body must fight the virus and quickly develop a natural defense before it does serious damage to our body. The Flu is one of the viruses that most do not have a natural defense for. The reason being is the flu usually mutates slightly each and every year. However, due to our medical innovations over the last century, we are able to come up with a vaccine each and every year to fight this year’s specific virus.

Ways in Which a Virus Spreads

There are many, many viruses that can have an effect on the human body. While humans come into contact with many viruses each and everyday, most do not affect us. In fact, we may be transmitting many harmless viruses each and everyday at work, home and in the community. There are generally a few major ways in which a virus can be transmitted, through inhalation of the mouth and nose, through an orifice such as eyes, sexual organs or an open sore and through the sharing of blood or other body fluids (ex. a drug user sharing a hypodermic needle).

For instance, the common Flu is usually transmitted by the virus entering the mouth or nose of the individual. Generally, a person may come into contact with the virus, whether breathing air that is contaminated with the virus, touching an object such as a door knob with the virus and then touching their eyes or nose allowing the virus easier access, etc. Generally speaking, most viruses that are easily passed on from one to another are categorized as highly contagious. The Flu is one of the most contagious viruses around due to the ease at which it is transmitted.

Protecting Yourself from Viruses

It should be noted that for the vast majority of viruses, the body is able to easily cope and defend against itself from them. One of the best strategies for protecting yourself from viruses is to stay as healthy as possible, eat a good diet with plenty of vitamins and minerals that strengthen your immune system. In addition, some common sense approaches to protecting yourself from viruses include, washing your hands often with soap, especially after you have been outside and before you eat. You should also cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. Another person with a virus can contain it by sometimes simply protecting those around them by covering their mouth and nose. Also it is wise to monitor your health. If you believe you have a virus, avoid contact with as many people as possible. For instance, stay home from school or work, which can help to slow the spread of the virus.

Finally, for those looking to protect themselves from a virus, you may want to wear protective clothing like a face mask. However, this is usually an extreme measure or a measure that is necessary when you are at high risk for acquiring or giving another person a virus- not just a moderately harmful virus such as the flu, but a dangerous virus. Generally speaking the Flu, which now includes the Swine Flu that has been introduced this year should not be that much more dangerous than the flu viruses of past years. As always, those with weakened immunity systems, children and older individuals should get vaccinated and take preventive measures, since they are the highest risk of not only acquiring these types of viruses, but suffering the worst from them.

For those that would like to understand more about viral infections, one component of viruses is how contagious they are to humans. The aspect of being contagious is how easy it is for a virus to spread. All viruses are not the same and many viruses spread easier than others and their method of transmission is different than others. In addition, other aspects such as how easy a virus can reproduce, the time it takes to reproduce and other factors all come into play when considering if a viral infection is contagious.

One of the biggest aspects of determining whether a viral infection is contagious is whether or not our bodies have the necessary resources to fight a virus effectively- so many times we never notice any detrimental affects. There are many viruses that our bodies come into contact each and everyday, many usually have no lasting effect on our body’s defenses and they are unable to reproduce or cause harm to our bodies. Other viruses are able to reproduce quickly and can have minor to slightly moderate affects on our body, such as the common cold. Some may catch a cold and have an occasional sneeze or runny nose, others might have a slight fever and aches and pains. Finally, there are other viruses that can completely decimate the body, eventually killing it- for instance AIDS.

For the many viruses that are spread throughout the human species, the major way a human comes into contact with a virus is usually through inhalation or the many other orifices in the body such as the eyes, nose, sex organs and anus. This is why when we catch a flu virus, our body responds by fighting off the virus with antibodies that are discharged out of our nose and mouth. In addition, we raise the temperature of our body to help fight off both bacteria and viruses in the hopes that the higher temperature will slow down reproduction or kill the infecting agent.

In addition, while many viruses are contagious through air born contact, others require blood to blood transmission- AIDS is one type of virus that is not transmitted through the air, but instead through sexual contact or blood to blood transfer (a drug user sharing a hypodermic needle). So, all viruses are contagious, this is a necessary part of how a virus species survives. However, for the overwhelming majority of viruses, our bodies are able to defend against these agents and they do little if any harm to us.

With this year’s Swine Flu epidemic, many are trying to educate themselves on what exactly is a viral infection, how a person can reduce the risk of acquiring one and how to treat a loved one or oneself that is mildly stricken by one. Viruses are not new and have affected our bodies since the very beginning of our species, however as humans evolve so do viruses. Here is some information regarding a viral infection.

What is an Infection?

An infection is usually defined as when another species or organism colonizes a host organism. For instance, the world is not only full of mammals, but of very small, microscopic organisms that feed off of humans. Generally speaking, it is not simply one organism feeding off of a species such as humans, but it could be thousands, millions or more. In effect, these small organisms or species such as a virus (which will be explained below) begin to colonize a host organism and as it feeds off this host, it could lead to the detriment of the host causing it to not function properly or die.

For instance, if a person has an open wound and comes into contact with bacteria, this bacteria may find it easy to feed off of the host due to the break in the skin and start to procreate. From maybe several hundred bacteria, over the course of a few days, the bacteria can exponentially grow into millions having an adverse affect on the host organism. Usually, when a human has an infection, it fights it with its natural defenses (specifically white blood cells), however if the bacteria are able to overpower the body’s natural defenses, the host itself can become in jeopardy. In the case of a person being unable to stop an infection, the infection can spread to body’s organs and throughout the body, can cause gangrene, where an infected area will need to be removed or completely overload the host body’s defenses causing death.

What is a Virus?

While bacteria are usually microscopic organisms, a virus is different. A virus is not a fully functional organism. You may want to think of a virus as biological material that once inside a host’s cell, can cause the cell to mutate. For instance, the common cold is a virus and requires a host body to reproduce. It should be noted that antibiotics such as penicillin do not work on killing viruses. However, there are antiviral drugs that can help lessen the effectiveness of viruses. In a human’s body, there are specific defenses that fight a long range of viruses that have exposed our species over the millennia and even if a human is infected with a new virus, there is a very good chance that our bodies can create a defense against it.

A Viral Infection

A viral infection while similar in certain ways to a bacterial infection is usually slightly different. For instance, while a bacterial infection might be more inclined to colonize an open sore or other accessible area of the body and stay specifically at that area for a length of time, viral infections are more systemic, meaning they usually propagate throughout the body. This is why when you have the flu; you not only have aches in your shoulders, but also in your legs and maybe a runny nose, cough, etc- the virus attack all areas of your body.