Answer to Question #72959 in General Chemistry for Nishith Kapoor

Question

What is the 'H' and 'N' in a flu virus?

Answer 1

Answer:
The H and N stand for hemagglutinin and neuraminidase correspondingly. Hemagglutinin allows the virus to bind to and enter a specific cell, and neuraminidase allows the newly created viruses to exit a cell and spread the infection. There are 16 different hemagglutinin subtypes and 9 different neuraminidase subtypes, and they are what the numbers after the letters refer to.
Sources:
https://www.sciencebuzz.org/topics/2009-h1n1-flu/what-letters-h1ni-mean