What is the difference between Influenza A and Influenza B?
There are many types of influenza viruses with different characteristics.
Influenza viruses are viruses that can cause influenza in humans or animals. There are many types of influenza viruses, not just one type of virus. In order to study influenza viruses in depth, scientists divide influenza viruses into three types: A, B, and C according to their genes and antigenic characteristics, just like humans can be divided into whites and blacks according to their genes and appearance .Among them, influenza A and B viruses are the main pathogens that cause influenza, while influenza C virus only causes insignificant or mild upper respiratory tract infection in humans, and rarely causes epidemics.
In addition to infecting humans, influenza A virus can also infect poultry and a variety of animals, such as poultry and pigs. That's right, the bird flu you've heard about is a type of influenza A. Therefore, influenza A has a wide range of epidemics and can even cause transmission between humans and animals. Influenza B viruses mainly infect humans and spread among people.
The alpha virus family is large, and it is easier to mutate and cause epidemics.
The influenza A virus family is huge, with many subtypes (198 in theory), all of which are named after the number combination of H and N, such as H1N1 and H3N2. These two viruses are the stars of the family and can infect both birds and birds. Infect humans, often on the news.
The influenza B virus family has no subtypes, but only two series (Victoria series and Yamagata series). Influenza A virus mutates more easily than influenza B virus, and when the virus mutates more, it can lead to a pandemic. Therefore, the influenza A virus has a wide range of epidemics and a rapid spread, which often leads to a worldwide pandemic.
The mutation rate of influenza B virus is only 10% to 20% of that of influenza A virus, and large mutations rarely occur. Therefore, influenza B viruses mainly cause local outbreaks and small epidemics and rarely cause major epidemics.
Influenza symptoms are indistinguishable and treated equally.
From the perspective of influenza symptoms, influenza A and influenza B cannot be distinguished by symptoms. Both influenza A and B have obvious systemic symptoms, such as fever, the body temperature can reach 39-40 ℃, and there may be chills, chills, headaches, and muscle and joints throughout the body. Soreness, fatigue, loss of appetite, etc. Other symptoms can also be seen, some of which are characterized by vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, known as "gastrointestinal flu."Unlike colds, flu symptoms are characterized by more common complications, especially high-risk groups prone to complications (pneumonia is the most common), high-risk groups such as children <5 years old, elderly >65 years old, obese, pregnant women, partners Other basic diseases such as liver and kidney disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases.
From the perspective of influenza symptoms, it is not easy to distinguish the two. To truly distinguish the two, a "rapid etiology" test or a virus culture test must be performed to diagnose the type of influenza virus. But when you have the flu, you don't need to determine the type of virus, because in terms of treatment, influenza A and influenza B are the same.
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