BIOLOGY

INVESTIGATORY
PR
OJECT
VIRAL DISEASES

ANSAL ASHUTOSH

XII - A

LIST OF
CONTENTS:
Certificate
Acknowledgement
Aim

Introduction
Viral Infections
Viral Diseases
About the viral diseases
Clinical Characteristics
Treatment
Bibliography

CERTIFICATE

KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA
NO. 1 SADAR BAZAR ROAD,
DELHI CANTT -10
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY
This is to certify that ANSAL ASHUTOSH, a
student of class XII-A has successfully
completed the research on the below
mentioned project under the guidance of Mrs.
R. Kiran Razdan ( Subject Teacher ) during
the year 2015-16 in partial fulfillment of
biology practical examination conducted by
KVS Sanghathan, New Delhi.

Signature of external examiner

Signature of biology teacher

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the accomplishment of this project
successfully, many people have best owned
upon me their blessings and the heart
pledged support, this time I am utilizing to
thank all the people who have been
concerned with project.
Primarily I would thank god for being able to
complete this project with success. Then I
would like to thank my principal Mrs. Husna
Bano, whose valuable guidance has been the
ones that helped me patch this project and
make it full proof success his suggestions and
his instructions has served as the major
contributor towards the completion of the
project.
Then I would like to thank my parents and
friends who have helped me with their

valuable suggestions and guidance has been

helpful in various phases of the completion of
the project.
Last but not the least I would like to thank my
classmates who have helped me a lot.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank
my teacher: Mrs. R.Kiran Razdan, Whose
unstinted support, guidance &
encouragements have enabled me to do the
project. I would also like to thank my parents
and my elder sister for Co-operation.

AIM:
To study about some of the
common viral diseases.

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 deoxyribonucleic

acid (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 "hightech" 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 outside 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 alight 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 diseasebearing 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 the H1N1 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 nonenveloped (Adenoviruses, Parvovirus and Polyomavirus) and two
are enveloped (Herpes virus 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
Ebola

ABOUT VIRAL
DISEASES
Viral diseases are contagious and spread from person to
person when a virus enters the body and 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, or field 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 as dehydration,

bacterial pneumonia, and other secondary bacterial

infections. People at risk for complications include those
who have a chronic disease or a suppressed or
compromised immune system, and the very young and
very old. In addition, certain types of sexually transmitted
viral infections, such as HIV/AIDS and HPV, can lead to
serious complications and death. Seek prompt medical
care if you think you have a viral disease, especially if
you are at risk for complications, 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 an illness or a viral
disease, such as shortness of breath, chest pain, passing
out(fainting), or a change in alertness or consciousness.

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

FAMILY

Adenoviru
s

Adenoviridae

Hepatitis
A virus

Picornavirida
e

Hepatitis B Hepadnaviri
virus
dae

TRANSMISSIO
N
Droplet
contact
(mainly)
Fecal-oral
Venereal
Direct
contact
(ocular
infections
)

Fecal-oral

All body fluids

(blood, semen,
saliva,
mothers milk
etc.)

DISEASES

Acute
febrile
pharyngit
is.
Epidemic
keratoco
njuctivitis.
Infantile
gastroent
eritis.

Acute hepatitis

Acute
hepatitis.
Chronic
hepatitis.
Hepatic
cirrhosis.
Hepatoce
llul-ar
carcinom
a.

TREATMENT

None

Immunoglobin (post
exposure
prophylaxis)

Hepatitis C Flaviviridae
virus

Blood
(Sexual)

HIV

Retroviridae

Influenza
virus

Orthomixovir
idae

Measles
virus

Paramyxoviri
dae

Sexual
Blood
Mothers
milk
Droplet contact

Droplet contact

Acute
hepatitis.
Chronic
hepatitis.
Hepatic
cirrhosis.
Hepatoce
llul-ar
carcinom
a.

AIDS

Pegylated
Interferon
alfa-2.
Ribavirin.

HAART

Influenza
(Reye
syndrom
e)

Measles
Post
infectious
encephal
omyelitis.

Amantadine.
Rimantadine.
Zanamivir.
Oseltamivir.

None

Mumps

Paramyxoviri
dae

Droplet contact

Mumps

None

Poliovirus

Picornavirida
e

Fecal-oral

Poliomyelitis

None

Rabies
virus

Rhabdovirida
e

Animal
bite
Droplet
contact

Rabies

Post exposure
prophylaxis.

Ebola

TREATMENT
1. Prevention of Human Rhinovirus
infectionsHuman rhinovirus (HRV) causes over 80% of the common cold in
the fall. Developing vaccines against HRV is unfeasible because
HRVs have at least 115 antigenically 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 multivalency. 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.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
BIAcore analysis. Such kinetic improvement also directly leads to
functional superiorities of CFY196. In invitro assays, CFY196
consistently and significantly outpaced the best commercial antiICAM-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 CFY196 is 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 on viral mRNATargeting viral mRNA is one of the most active areas of
research and development. Several strategies have
emerged over the years and are being tested preclinically and clinically. They include: antisenseoligonucleotides (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 Zamecnik and 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-base phosphorothioateoligodeoxynucleotide
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

 www.scribd.com
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Biology Text class XII (NCERT)
Biology Text class XI (NCERT)

A PRESENTATION BY: ANSAL

ASHUTOSH