Influenza Viruses: Disease Modeling and Laboratory Methods

Influenza virus infections are a serious health problem. Each year, about 500 million people are infected by the virus, resulting in about 500,000 deaths worldwide. The occurrence of new influenza subtypes has caused severe pandemics, including the 2009 swine flu (vH1N1). In addition, highly pathogenic viruses, like subtypes H7N7 and H5N1, also called the fowl plague and bird flu, respectively, represent enormous economic threats to livestock farming. This book begins with descriptions of the molecular make-up of influenza viruses, their replication cycles and functions of viral proteins. A history of major influenza pandemics is provided as is a detailed article discussing how viral growth and decay is mathematically modeled to evaluate the biological parameters governing interaction between host and virus. Several laboratory protocols describe how influenza virus is handled and used in animal models to study host-pathogen interactions and test potential new therapies.

This e-book — a curated collection from eLS, WIREs, and Current Protocols — offers a fantastic introduction to the field of influenza research for students or interdisciplinary collaborators.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Influenza Viruses: Molecular Virology
eLS
Gabriele Neumann and Yoshihiro Kawaoka

Avian Influenza Viruses
eLS
Gabriele Neumann and Yoshihiro Kawaoka

Influenza Epidemics and Pandemics
eLS
Gabriele Neumann and Yoshihiro Kawaoka

Parainfluenza Viruses
eLS
Raychel Chambers and Toru Takimoto

Disease Modeling

Influenza A Virus Infection Kinetics: Quantitative Data and Models
WIREs Systems Biology and Medicine
Amber M. Smith and Alan S. Perelson

Protocols

Laboratory Growth and Maintenance of Haemophilus influenzae
Current Protocols in Microbiology
Jason W. Johnston

Influenza: Propagation, Quantification and Storage
Current Protocols in Microbiology
Amanda L. Balish, Jacqueline M. Katz and Alexander I. Klimov

The Mouse as Model System to Study Host?]Pathogen Interactions in Influenza A Infections
Current Protocols in Mouse Biology
Esther Wilk and Klaus Schughart

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