Examining Influenza

Wolffman writes "University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists have solved a long-standing puzzle about how the influenza virus assembles its genetic contents into infectious particles that enable the virus to spread from cell to cell, scientists have opened a new gateway to a better understanding of one of the world's most virulent diseases."

Comments

Kawaoka

[GrimSean]

Yoshi Kawaoka who is the principle person behind this research, also works with Ebola. I would be interested to know if the Ebola virus uses a similar method of infecting host cells, as I believe both it and the Influenza A virus have a similar incubation period.

The article states that a single RNA strand is responsible for recruiting the other seven, which then work together to produce more virons. I'm curious as to whether it is that RNA strand which has to mutate in order for the virus to jump from species to species (such as from birds to humans). Perhaps this could lead to a new innoculation for birds that would prevent their viral infections from jumping ship to us.

Re:One thing that always worries me

[Simon Field]

Of course, antibiotics aren't useful against viruses, but presumably any antiviral agent that does not kill the virus effectively will give the virus a better chance at developing resistance.

I am somewhat skeptical (ok, paranoid) about the motives of drug companies. It looks to me like it is in their best interest to develop drugs that turn a fatal disease into a chronic one that needs expensive drugs for life. If they develop drugs that actually cure the disease, they make less money. Where is the most money being spent and made -- on anti-virals, or on vaccines?

How many companies that sell cold remedies are working on vaccines for the common cold?

Influenza pandemics

[juushin]

The article is interesting, but falls a bit short of describing why this study describing how viruses package themselves and spread is so important (it does briefly mention the influenza pandemic of 1918 which is believed to have killed tens of millions worldwide, thereby illustrating the devastation of influenza).

What the article fails to mention is how strains of influenza can become particularly virulent against humans. Traditionally, as in the 1918 pandemic, this occurs when a strain of swine and avian influenza combine. The likelyhood of this recombination occurring to produce a lethal strain is low (consider that the Spanish Influenza was brought about by a strain of avian influenza believed to originate in China and a swine strain believed to have originated from another area of the world). However, statistics show that this recombination occurs regularly enough to pose a serious risk and that it is only a matter of time...

If one traces outbreaks of influenza worldwide, it becomes clear that every ~20 years, an outbreak occurs due to a recombination of swine and avian viruses that leads to the infection of humans.

Let's hope that scientific strides, such as that made in this recent PNAS article, can be used to nip future viruses in the bud, or be used to make new vaccines.

I had a little bird It's name was enza

I opened the window

And in-flu-enza