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MEDICATION

1. Complete each senlcnce with a type of medicine.

painkiller. a sedative_? an anti-inflammatory, an inoculatiort an antibiotłc, an antihistamine, a stimulant, an antidepressant, a laxative,

a suppleinent
1.	ki lis bacteria and other genns.
2.	protects you against infectious diseases.
3.	re!ieves pain.
4.	reduccs swelling.
5.	encourages bowel movements.
6.	pro\ides a substance that tlie body lacks.
7.	treats allergies.
8.	inereases activity in the body.
9.	reduces feeling of extreme sadness.
10.	makes you relaxed and sleepy.

Pandemics and TAMIFLU

When someonc who bas fiu sneezes ncarby, you takc tiny dropJełs of their saliva into your )ungs. The dropicts contein vkuses that arc looking for a new home. They get into your Jung and then into your blood, and can ąuickly take over your whole body, using it as a faclory in which they can reproducc.

At any time, a deadly bactcrium or a virus can become very successfnl and spread across the world, killing millions of human beings. When this happens il is called a "pandemie”.

There was a pandemie 1918. An influenza virus called H1N1, or “Spanish fiu”, killed between 50 and 100 million people. Morę people died from H1N1 than were killed in the First World War.

A letter from a doctor in a military camp in 1918 describes the situation:

"... It is only a few hours until deatli comcs. It is horrible. We have been avcraging about 100 deaths per day. We have lost many nurses and doctors. Special trains carry away the dead. For several days there were no coffins and the bodies piled up”

Since 1918, tlie H1N1 virus has mutated. Now there is a mutation called H5N1. When this mutation firs appeared in China in 1996, there was a desperate search for a medicine to deal with it. The pharmaceutical company Roche came up witli a drug called Tamiflu. Tamiflu docs not kill H5N1, but stops it making copies of itself. If given carly enough, vaccination of Tamiflu could perhaps save many iives. However, tlie virus will continue to mutale, and might become resistant to Tamiflu, The ne.\t mutation may already be with us by the time you’re reading tliis!