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 in...
Source: RRResearch - January 11, 2014 Category: Medical Scientists Authors: Rosie Redfield Source Type: blogs
Drug firms accused of holding back complete information on clinical
trials
A review of 20 existing studies into Tamiflu by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded it 'did not reduce influenza-related lower respiratory tract complications'. Photograph: Clive Gee/PAClinical trial results are being routinely withheld from doctors, undermining their ability to make informed decisions about how to treat patients, an influential parliamentary committee has claimed.MPs have expressed "extreme concern" that drug manufacturers appear to only publish around 50% of completed trial results and warned that the practice has "ramifications for the whole of medicine".Their conclusions have emerged in a public accou...
Source: PharmaGossip - January 3, 2014 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
The Flu Is One Gift That We Don't Have To Keep On Giving For People With Cancer
It's the holiday season, a time of reflection, celebration and for many, giving gifts. But there is at least one gift that no one wants to get, and certainly no one wants to give: the flu. And for people with cancer, and those they come in contact with, the flu can be a very serious event. For that reason and many more, people more than 6 months old-and especially those in contact with people who have serious illnesses like cancer-should get vaccinated against the flu.
Too many of us think the flu is a minor inconvenience. But that is almost certainly because we confuse the typical cold or upper respiratory infectio...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - December 17, 2013 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Tags: Cancer Care Environment Medications Prevention Survivors Treatment Vaccines Source Type: blogs
Apocalypse maybe?
I can't remember the guy's name and I can't figure out a way to use your favorite on-line search engine to track it down, but many suns ago -- 20 years or so -- he was a highly controversial microbiologist who claimed it was a certainty -- not if but when -- that the global human population would be decimated by a global pandemic, or maybe several, of emerging infectious diseases.The controversy was not so much over whether this was true -- a lot of people in the public health field, of various disciplines, tended to think so. The controversy was because he gave the impression he thought this would be a good thing. The hum...
Source: Stayin' Alive - December 10, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Source Type: blogs
Changing influenza virus neuraminidase into a receptor binding protein
The hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) glycoproteins of the influenza virus particle serve distinct functions during infection. The HA binds sialic acid-containing cellular receptors and mediates fusion of the viral and cell membranes, while the NA removes sialic acids from glycoproteins. Apparently this division of labor is not absolute: influenza viruses have been identified with NA molecules that serve as receptor binding proteins.
An influenza virus was created that could not bind sialic acid by introducing multiple mutations into the HA gene. This mutant virus was not expected to be infectious, but nevertheless...
Source: virology blog - November 21, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information evolution HA hemagglutinin influenza mutation NA neuraminidase receptor binding sialidase tamiflu viral virus Source Type: blogs
Dr James LeFanu writes
There is rather more than is immediately apparent in the recent grudging acknowledgement that the swine flu vaccine increased the risk of the serious sleeping disorder narcolepsy fourteen-fold – and that those affected (mainly children) are entitled to compensation.As many will recall, the threatened swine flu “pandemic” of 2009 proved something of a non-event, with only 10 per cent of the predicted number of cases and a miniscule mortality rate of 0.0005 per cent.This discrepancy between the dire warnings and what turned out to be among the mildest flu outbreaks of the past 100 years prompted an inquiry by...
Source: PharmaGossip - November 18, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Influenza A viruses in bats
It is well known that aquatic birds are a major reservoir of influenza A viruses, and that pandemic human influenza virus strains of the past century derive viral genes from this pool. The recent discovery of two new influenza A viruses in bats suggests that this species may constitute another reservoir with even greater genetic diversity.
A new influenza virus had previously been isolated from little yellow-shouldered bats (Sturnira lilium) in Guatemala. Three of 316 rectal swabs were positive when tested by a pan-influenza polymerase chain reaction assay. Viral sequences were also detected in liver, intestine, lung, an...
Source: virology blog - November 13, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information Artibeus planirostris bat genetic diversity influenza virus pandemic Sturnira lilium viral zoonosis Source Type: blogs
H7N9 influenza: are we close to a pandemic?
(Source: Notes from Dr. RW)
Source: Notes from Dr. RW - October 31, 2013 Category: Internists and Doctors of Medicine Tags: infectious disease Source Type: blogs
Incidence of asymptomatic human influenza A(H5N1) virus infection
When virologists Fouchier and Kawaoka were isolating avian influenza H5N1 viruses that could transmit among ferrets by aerosol, there was consternation from some quarters that such viruses might escape from the laboratory and cause a pandemic in humans. Part of the fear came from the fact that the case fatality ratio for human infections with the H5N1 virus exceeds 50%. This number could be substantially higher than the lethality ratio, which is the number of symptomatic cases divided by the total number of infections. Divining the latter number has been difficult. Results of a meta-analysis published in 2012 suggest that...
Source: virology blog - October 1, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information asymptomatic avian Bangladesh case fatality ratio fouchier influenza A(H5N1) kawaoka mortality ratio viral virus Source Type: blogs
Incidence of asymptomatic human influenza A(H5N1) virus infection
When virologists Fouchier and Kawaoka were isolating avian influenza H5N1 viruses that could transmit among ferrets by aerosol, there was consternation from some quarters that such viruses might escape from the laboratory and cause a pandemic in humans. Part of the fear came from the fact that the case fatality ratio for human infections with the H5N1 virus exceeds 50%. This number could be substantially higher than the lethality ratio, which is the number of symptomatic cases divided by the total number of infections. Divining the latter number has been difficult. Results of a meta-analysis published in 2012 suggest that...
Source: virology blog - October 1, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Information asymptomatic avian Bangladesh case fatality ratio fouchier influenza A(H5N1) kawaoka mortality ratio viral virus Source Type: blogs
TWiV 246: Pandora, pandemics, and privacy
On episode #246 of the science show This Week in Virology, Vincent, Alan, Rich, and Kathy discuss the huge Pandoravirus, virologists planning H7N9 gain of function experiments, and limited access to the HeLa cell genome sequence.
You can find TWiV #246 at www.twiv.tv.
We recorded this episode of TWiV as a Google hangout on air. Consequently the audio is not the same quality as you might be used to. But the tradeoff is that you can see each of us on video.
(Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - August 18, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology avian influenza H7N9 fouchier gain of function genome HeLa henrietta lacks kawaoka mimivirus Pandoravirus sequence viral Source Type: blogs
Post #40 Flu Shot Update 2013-2014
How is the flu vaccine formulated?Flu viruses are always changing. Each year, experts study thousands of flu virus samples from around the world to figure out which viruses are making people sick and how these viruses are changing. With this information, they forecast which viruses are most likely to make the most people sick during the next flu season. These strains are then used to make the flu vaccine for the next flu season. The 2013-14 U.S. trivalent influenza vaccines will contain: *an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus *an A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like virus *a B/Massachusetts/2/2012-like virusThe newer qu...
Source: A Pediatrician's Blog - August 17, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
Post #40 Flu Vaccine Update 2013-2014 (Quadrivalent vs Trivalent)
How is the flu vaccine formulated?Flu viruses are always changing. Each year, experts study thousands of flu virus samples from around the world to figure out which viruses are making people sick and how these viruses are changing. With this information, they forecast which viruses are most likely to make the most people sick during the next flu season. These strains are then used to make the flu vaccine for the next flu season. The 2013-14 U.S. trivalent influenza vaccines will contain: *an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus *an A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like virus *a B/Massachusetts/2/2012-like virusThe newer qu...
Source: A Pediatrician's Blog - August 17, 2013 Category: Pediatricians Source Type: blogs
Virologists plan influenza H7N9 gain of function experiments
A group of virologists lead by Yoshihiro Kawaoka and Ron Fouchier have sent a letter to Nature and Science outlining the experiments they propose to carry out with influenza H7N9 virus.
Avian influenza H7N9 virus has caused over 130 human infections in China with 43 fatalities. The source of the virus is not known but is suspected to be wet market poultry. No human to human transmission have been detected, and the outbreak seems to be under control. According to the authors of the letter, the virus could re-emerge this winter, and therefore additional work is needed to assess the risk of human infection.
The research that ...
Source: virology blog - August 7, 2013 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: Basic virology Commentary Information aerosol transmission ferret fouchier gain of function GOF H5N1 h7n9 influenza kawaoka pandemic viral virus Source Type: blogs
