The Influenza Virus Enigma

The Influenza Virus Enigma

Both seasonal and pandemic influenza continue to challenge both scientists and clinicians. Drug-resistant H1N1 influenza viruses have dominated the 2009 flu season, and the H5N1 avian influenza virus continues to kill both people and poultry in Eurasia. Here, we discuss the pathogenesis and transmissibility of influenza viruses and we emphasize the need to find better predictors of both seasona...

The origin of the 1918 pandemic influenza virus: a continuing enigma.

Influenza A virus is a major public health threat, killing more than 30,000 per year in the USA alone, sickening millions and inflicting substantial economic costs. Novel influenza virus strains emerge periodically to which humans have little immunity, resulting in devastating pandemics. The 1918 pandemic killed nearly 700,000 Americans and 40 million people worldwide. Pandemics in 1957 and 196...

The Enigma of Hepatitis E Virus.

Globally, hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis. HEV is endemic in many developing countries, yet it is far more common in industrialized, nonendemic countries than previously recognized. Nonetheless, HEV remains poorly characterized and is frequently unidentified or misdiagnosed by clinicians. Manifestation of disease, source of infection, and route of trans...

2009 H1N1 Influenza Virus Seroepidemiology

Immunofluorescence Method for The Detection of Non-Pathogenic Influenza Virus

The direct F.A. Method has been used for diffe­rentiation of virulent and avirulent lines of influenza viruses. A positive fluorescence was obtained indi­cating the level of virus in the tissues, sorbing with dried mouse powder helped to reduce non-specific staining. The virulent line showed the greatest num­ber of fluorescent cells with the peak at 10 hours. the non-virulent lines showed a gra...