There are some interesting statistics on influenza in the current issue of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The first is this map showing the number of confirmed cases (N = 1,882) of novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infection worldwide as of May 6, 2009: With the exception of a ...

Recently I asked readers to identify errors in an animation of influenza virus replication. I am impressed with the number of good responses posted in the comments section. Here is a synopsis of the errors (there is more than one). 1. Influenza virus is released from cells by budding, not ...

In "Influenza virus attachment to cells" we left the intact virion on the cell surface. The next step is that the viral genetic information - for influenza virus, the individual RNA segments - must enter the cell so that it can be reproduced. The mechanism for influenza virus, illustrated below, ...

On a special episode of the podcast "This Week in Virology", Vincent speaks with Dr. Peter Palese, noted influenza expert, about the origin and pandemic potential of the new H1N1 influenza virus. [powerpress url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/twiv/TWiVspecial.mp3"] Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV Special or subscribe in  iTunes ...

Here are answers to questions send to virology blog about the new strain of influenza H1N1 that is spreading globally. Q: Regarding this marker (PB1-F2) - is it something that was present as well in the early wave of the 1918 virus, which was also considered mild up until August, ...