INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

STUDY OF VARIOUS KIND

OF DISEASES IN HUMAN

PROJECT PRESENTED BY: S.SHINE ROSELINE

CLASS & SECTION: XI ‘A’
SUBJECT: BIOLOGY
 ACKOWLEDGEMENT

“I would like to take this opportunity to

thank
my teacher: Mrs. ESTHER JEBA, Whose
unstinted support, guidance &
encouragements have enabled me to do the
project.
LIST OF CONTENTS:
* Introduction
* Viral Infections
* Viral Diseases
* About the viral diseases
* Clinical Characteristics
* Treatment
* Bibliography

INTRODUCTION
A virus, in the words of one eminent scientist, can be thought of
as "a piece of bad news wrapped in protein." Unlike bacteria and
fungi, viruses are not living organisms; rather, they consist in
essence of a length of nucleic acid-their genetic material-that is
surrounded and protected by a protein coat. (Some viruses have, in
addition to this coat, a soft outer envelope, which confers some
special properties.)The genetic material of viruses is composed of
one type of nucleic acid, which may be either ribonucleic acid
(RNA) or deoxyribonucleicacid (DNA).Viruses carry out no
independent metabolism: they do not respire, they do not process
nutrients, they do not generate waste products, and they rely on
living cells of the host for their reproduction. A virus outside a cell
is an inert bit of particulate matter; once inside, however, the virus
seizes command of the cell's biosynthetic machinery, converting
the cell into a "high-tech" factory for the production of new virus
particles. Many viruses eventually kill their host cells, resulting in
disease and provoking an assault by the immune response of the
host. Sometimes, this response goes away, so that the harmful
effects of the immune response are actually more serious than
those of the viral disease itself other viruses provoke little, if any,
reaction, and some can remain dormant, or latent, in the host for
years. The vast majority of all virus infections appear to be
asymptomatic in nature that is, the infections are so mild and the
host response so effective that clinical signs of disease never
develop.

VIRUS – AN INTRODUCTION
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living
cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and
plants to bacteria and Achaea. Virus particles (known as virions) consist of
two or three parts: the genetic material made from either DNA or RNA, long
molecules that carry genetic information; a protein coat that protects these
genes; and in some cases an envelope of lipids that surrounds the protein
coat when they are out side a cell. The shapes of viruses range from simple
helical and icosahedra forms to more complex structures. The average
virus is about one one-hundredth the size of the average bacterium. Most
viruses are too small to be seen directly with a light microscope. Viruses
spread in many ways; viruses in plants are often transmitted from plant to
plant by insects that feed on the sap of plants, such as aphids; viruses in
animals can be carried by blood-sucking insects. These disease-bearing
organisms are known as vectors. Influenza viruses are spread by coughing
and sneezing. Norovirus and rotavirus, common causes of viral
gastroenteritis, are transmitted by the faecal-oral route and are passed
from person to person by contact, entering the body in food or water. HIV is
one of several viruses transmitted through sexual contact and by exposure
to infected blood. The range of host cells that a virus can infect is called its
"host range". This can be narrow or, as when a virus is capable of infecting
many species, broad. Viral infections in animals provoke an immune
response that usually eliminates the infecting virus. Immune responses can
also be produced by vaccines, which confer an artificially acquired
immunity to the specific viral infection. However, some viruses including
those causing AIDS and viral hepatitis evade these immune responses and
result in chronic infections. Antibiotics have no effect on viruses, but
several antiviral drugs have been developed.

Viral infections
Viruses are microscopic pathogens, just a fraction of the size of a
bacterium, that consist simply of genetic material (DNA or RNA) and a
container. Because they cannot replicate on their own, viruses
invade host cells, commandeering the machinery needed for normal
cell function. A large number of zoonotic illnesses(diseases that pass
from animals to humans) are caused by viruses, including rabies,
Ebola, and recently emerging diseases such as avian influenza and
theH1N1³ swine´ flu. Illness from viral infections can be prevented
with vaccines, which prime the immune system to attack and
clear invading pathogens; however, many viruses mutate rapidly,
resulting in new strains that the immune system no longer recognizes.
Viruses also have the ability to remain dormant within a host cell.
During these times, the immune system is unable to recognize and
destroy the invading pathogen.

Structural characteristics -

Basic structural characteristics, such as genome type, virion shape

and replication site, generally share the same features among virus
species within the same family. There are currently 21 families of
viruses known to cause disease in humans. There are five double
stranded DNA families: three are non-enveloped(Adenoviruses,
Parvovirus and Polyomavirus) and two are enveloped (Herpesvirus and
Poxvirus).There is one family of single stranded DNA viruses that
infect humans: the Parvoviridae. There are two additional viruses
(Hepatitis D and Hepatitis E) which have not yet been assigned to a
family but are clearly distinct from the other families infecting
humans.
 SOME VIRAL DISEASES
Viral diseases are extremely widespread infections caused by viruses,
a type of microorganism. There are many types of viruses that cause a
wide variety of viral diseases. The most common type of viral disease
is the common cold, which is caused by a viral infection of the upper
respiratory tract (nose and throat). Other common viral diseases
include:-

* Chickenpox

* Flu (influenza)

* Herpes

* Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV/AIDS)

* Human papillomavirus (HPV)

* Infectious mononucleosis

* Mumps, measles and rubella

* Shingles

* Viral gastroenteritis (stomach flu)

* Viral hepatitis

* Viral meningitis

* Viral pneumonia

About the viral diseases

 Viral diseases are contagious and spread from person to person when
a virus enters the bodyand begins to multiply

. Common ways that viruses spread from person to person include:

1. Breathing in air-borne droplets contaminated with a virus.

2. Eating food or drinking water contaminated with a virus.

3. Having sexual contact with a person who is infected with a sexually

transmitted virus.

4. Indirect transmission from person to person by a virus host, such as a

mosquito, tick, orfield mouse.

5. Touching surfaces or body fluids contaminated with a virus.

In some cases, viral diseases can lead to serious, possibly life-threatening

complications, such asdehydration, bacterial pneumonia, and other
secondary bacterial infections. People at riskfor complications include
those who have a chronic disease or a suppressed or compromisedimmune
system, and the very young and very old. In addition, certain types of
sexuallytransmitted viral infections, such as HIV/AIDS and HPV, can lead to
serious complications anddeath.Seek prompt medical care if you think you
have a viral disease, especially if you are at risk forcomplications, or if you
believe you have been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease.Seek
immediate medical care if you, or someone you are with, have serious
symptoms of anillness or a viral disease, such as shortness of breath, chest
pain, passing out(fainting), or achange in alertness or consciousness.

CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The clinical characteristics of viruses may differ substantially among
 species within the same family:

TYPE FAMILY  TRANSMISSION  DISEASES  TREATMENT

Adenovirus Adenoviridae *Droplet contact(mainly) *Acute febrilepharyngitis. NONE

* Fecal-oral *Epidemickeratoconjucti-vitis.

* Venereal *Infantilegastroenteritis.

*Direct contact(ocular Infections)

Hepatitis A virus Picornaviridae *Fecal – oral *Acute hepatitis *Immunoglobin

Hepatitis B virus Hepadnaviridae *All body fluids *Acute hepatisis.

*Chronic hepatitis.

*Hepatic cirrhosis.

*Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis C virus Flaviviridae *Blood *Acute hepatitis. *pegylated

*Sexual *chronic hepatitis. interferon alfa-2.

* Hepatic cirrhosis. *Ribavirin.

*Hepatocellular carcinoma.

HIV Retroviridae *Sexual AIDS HAART

*Blood

*Mother’s milk

Influenza virus Orthomixoviridae *Droplet contact *Influenza *Amantadine

*(Reye syndrome) *Rimantadine

*Zanamivir

*Oseltamivir
Measles virus Paramyxoviridae *Droplet contact *Measles NONE

*Post infectious

encephalomye litis

Mumps Paramyxoviridae *Droplet contact *Mumps NONE

Poliovirus Picornaviridae *Fecal – oral *Poliomyelitis NONE

Rabies virus Rhabdoviridae *Animal bite *Rabies *post -exposure

*Droplet contact prophylaxis

treatment
1.Prevention of Human Rhinovirus infections-

Human rhinovirus (HRV) causes over 80% of the common cold in the fall.
Developing vaccines against HRV is unfeasible because HRVs have at least
115antigenically distinct serotypes. One of the proven methods to prevent
and inhibit viral infections is to block host cell receptors that are used by
 viruses to gain cell entry. Receptor blockage is commonly achieved via
application of MAbs that bind to specific epitopes on the receptor
molecules. A plethora of invitro

 studies have reported effective viral inhibition by receptor-blocking MAbs.

However, these works have not yielded yet any approved drug on the
markers. High avidity is achieved by multi valency. To improve avidity of
HRV receptor blocking antibody, a novel tetravalent recombinant antibody,
CFY196, has been generated against I CAM-1.CFY196 is composed of Fab
fragment of a humanized version of MAb 1A6 fused with a linker derived
from human immunoglobulin D(IgD) hinge and a tetramerization domain
derived from the coiled-coil sequence of human transcription factor ATF

α .CFY196 is expressed in bacteria and purified as a homogenous

tetrameric molecular complex. CFY196exhibited almost two-orders-of-
magnitude improvement in functional affinity compared with its bivalent
counterpart based on the kinetic parameters measured by BIA core
analysis. Such kinetic improvement also directly leads to
functional superiorities of CFY196. In invitro

 assays, CFY196 consistently and significantly outpaced the best

commercial anti-ICAM-1 MAbs in preventing HRV infection as measured by
reduction of cytopathic effects and HRV viral titers. The preclinical findings
of CFY196 bode well its efficacy in human since MAb 1A6, from which
CFY196is derived, has already exhibited positive effects in a human trial.
Moreover, to prevent possible immunogenicity, CFY196 is humanized.

2. Biochemical Prevention and Treatment via targeting onviral mRNA-

Targeting viral mRNA is one of the most active areas of research and
development. Several strategies have emerged over the years and are
being tested pre-clinically and clinically. They include: antisense-
oligonucleotides (AS-ONs),ribozymes, and recently, RNA interference
(RNAi). All these strategies share the features of conceptual simplicity,
straightforward drug design and quick route to identify drug leads.
However, the challenges have been to improve potency, pharmacokinetics
and, most importantly, intracellular delivery of the drug candidates. As the
oldest strategy, AS-ON technology has produced to date one drug in the
market place, Vitravene. A number of clinical trials of drug candidates from
these technologies are currently ongoing.

Antisense-oligonucleotides

Antisense-oligonucleotides (AS-ONs) are short synthetic oligonucleotides

that form complementary pair with specific viral mRNA targets. AS-ONs
inhibit viral protein production by both blocking viral mRNA translation and
triggering its degradation. Since the discovery of viral inhibition effect of
AS-ONs by Zamecnikand Stephenson in 1978, antisense technology has
been developed as a powerful tool for target validation and therapeutic
purposes. Vitravene is the first AS-ON based drug approved by FDA.
Vitravene, or fomivirsen sodium, is a 21-
basephosphorothioateoligodeoxynucleotide complementary to the
messenger RNA of the major immediate-early region proteins of human
cytomegalovirus, and is a potent and selective antiviral agent for
cytomegalovirus retinitis, a herpes-like eye disease that afflicts the
immune-suppressed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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