An important paper about the interactions between influenza and H. influenzae infection

Wong SM, Bernui M, Shen H, & Akerley BJ (2013). Genome-wide fitness profiling reveals adaptations required by Haemophilus in coinfection with influenza A virus in the murine lung. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110 (38), 15413-8 PMID: 24003154Haemophilus influenzae is a bacterium that causes respiratory tract diseases, but it's often confused with the virus that causes influenza (also a respiratory tract disease).  The modern confusion arises from the similarity of the names, but the name similarity arises from an older confusion about the cause of influenza.The influenza virus wasn't identified until after the big 'Spanish influenza' pandemic at the end of World War I.   At the time of the epidemic the cause of influenza was still being sought, and a small heme-requiring bacterium informally called 'Pfeiffer's influenza bacillus' (now Haemophilus influenzae) was a likely suspect, since it was found in the lungs of many influenza victims.  We now know that influenza itself is caused by a family of small RNA-genome viruses, and that H. influenzae commonly causes a secondary pneumonia, especially in people whose respiratory tracts have been weakened by other diseases or by old age.A recent paper from Brian Akerley's group set out to identify the bacterial genes that contribute to this effect.  Their hypothesis was that some H. influenzae functions that are needed for normal infection (in the absence ...
Source: RRResearch - Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Source Type: blogs