Influenza virus may be transmitted among humans in three ways: by direct contact with infected individuals; by contact with contaminated objects (called fomites, such as toys, doorknobs); and by inhalation of virus-laden aerosols. The contribution of each mode to overall transmission of influenza is not known. But something that most ...

Host: Vincent Racaniello On episode #57 of the podcast "This Week in Virology", Vincent visited Scotch Plains - Fanwood High School and talked about viruses with high school biology students. [powerpress url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiV057.mp3"] Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #57 (68 MB .mp3, 94 minutes) Subscribe ...

The suggestion that yearly immunization against influenza might make children more susceptible to serious disease during a pandemic has generated some controversy. Does this idea have merit? If you have read Being older is a good defense against 2009 H1N1 influenza, you are familiar with the concept of 'heterosubtypic immunity'. ...

The title of this post should not come as a surprise to readers of virology blog - it was shown in 1974 that zinc could interfere with replication of rhinoviruses (see "Zinc and the common cold"). I am referring to the result of my first experiment to study the mechanism ...

Why is the incidence of infection with 2009 H1N1 influenza highest among 5-24 year olds, and lowest in those over 65 years of age? Were the oldsters previously infected with a related influenza virus, or is there another explanation? The sera of individuals born in the early part of the ...