First flu is forever

A change in the properties of influenza virus in 1968 has left a profound mark on population immunity Influenza is a threat that has been with humans throughout history, fueled by a constant race between host immunity and viral evolution. Control strategies rely on annual immunizations and require f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2016-11, Vol.354 (6313), p.706-707
Main Authors: Viboud, Cécile, Epstein, Suzanne L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Avian flu
Disease control
Evolution
Humans
Immunity
Influenza
Influenza, Human
Lymphocytes
PERSPECTIVES
Strategy
Vaccines
Viral diseases
Viruses
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A change in the properties of influenza virus in 1968 has left a profound mark on population immunity Influenza is a threat that has been with humans throughout history, fueled by a constant race between host immunity and viral evolution. Control strategies rely on annual immunizations and require frequent updates of the vaccine, an expensive, cumbersome, and not always foolproof process. Efforts are therefore under way to develop vaccines that confer broadly cross-protective immunity to diverse influenza strains. Cross-immunity is pervasive in nature; in multistrain viral diseases such as influenza or dengue, response to a primary infection can profoundly influence response to the next strain encountered. Even unrelated viruses can be recognized by the same cross-reactive T cells. On page 722 of this issue ( 1 ), Gostic et al. show that severe infection with a bird flu virus depends on the individual's first encounter with influenza in childhood.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aak9816