Viral interference, also known as superinfection resistance, [1] is the inhibition of viral reproduction caused by previous exposure of cells to another virus. [2] The exact mechanism for viral interference is unknown. [3] Factors that have been implicated are the generation of interferons by infected cells, [4] and the occupation or down-modulation of cellular receptors. [1]
Viral interference is considered the most common outcome of coinfection, or the simultaneous infection of a host by two or more distinct viruses. [5] The primary form of viral interference is known as superinfection exclusion, in which the initial infection stimulates a resistance to subsequent infection by related viruses. [5] [6] Interference can occur as well in the form of superinfection suppression, in which persistently infected cells hold off infection by unrelated viruses. Viral interference has also been observed to occur in the use of vaccines containing live-attenuated viruses, in both directions — in some cases vaccines disrupting viruses unrelated to those they were targeting, and in others wild viruses rendering vaccines of this kind less effective. [5]
A primary infection by bacteriophage (phage) T4 of its E. coli host ordinarily leads to genetic exclusion of a secondarily infecting phage, preventing the secondary phage from contributing its genetic information to progeny. This viral interference depends on the expression by the primary phage of the genes immunity (imm) and spackle (sp). [7] [8] The imm gp appears to enable the host exonuclease V to degrade the superinfecting phage DNA, and the sp gp appears to interfere with the DNA injection process of secondary phage. [8] If the primary infecting phage is subjected to DNA damaging treatment prior to infection, this treatment tends to permit entry of the secondary phage's DNA, thus shifting reproduction from an asexual to a sexual mode and allowing rescue of the primary phage's genes. [9]
Interference has been observed to occur among endemic respiratory viruses. For example, human rhinovirus (HRV) infection has been shown to reduce the likelihood of codetection of other respiratory viruses, suggesting that it may confer a protective effect against other viruses such as influenza. [10] The mechanism at play here has been suggested to be the expression of interferon-stimulated genes in the "target tissue" of HRV infection — the epithelium of the airway, where there has been observed to be an "unexpected high prevalence" of the virus, even among asymptomatic individuals. [11] [12] This process thus stimulates an antiviral state, shielding nearby cells from further infection. [10] This potential interplay between viruses such as HRV and influenza may be one factor contributing to the timing and severity of their separate though overlapping "seasons". [13] [11]
Interference has been reported between respiratory viruses in non-human animals as well, such as between avian influenza viruses and Newcastle disease virus in chicken, turkeys, and ducks. [14] [15]
The first smallpox vaccine, developed by Edward Jenner, used cowpox to prevent smallpox infection. [6] Indeed, the term "vaccinate" comes from the Latin phrase variolae vaccinae, Jenner's name for cowpox.
Live enterovirus vaccines have been found to disrupt the spread of various unrelated respiratory viruses, such as influenza, HRV, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), in addition to poliovirus (itself an enterovirus), a phenomenon attributed to viral interference. [16] Similarly, during mass immunization campaigns against polio, vaccination seemed to confer some protection against unrelated enteroviruses as well. At the same time, enteroviruses were also found to interfere with the vaccines themselves, leading to instances of vaccine failure. [5]
Viral interference was observed as early as the 16th century. However, it was not until the 20th century that it was described in detail, following experiments involving plants in 1929, animals in 1935, and bacteriophages in 1942. [6]
The emergence of a novel influenza A virus (pandemic H1N1/09) in early 2009 afforded the opportunity to study how pandemic influenza and seasonal respiratory viruses might interact, placing the concept of viral interference "on more solid footing." [16] [17] The virus quickly spread across both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres through the middle of the year. While this is an unusual time for influenza activity in the north, the first wave of the pandemic in the south occurred during the typical influenza period. The pandemic virus quickly became the dominant strain of influenza, largely displacing the seasonal ones in many countries; however, complete replacement was not observed. [18] Ultimately, activity generally peaked at the expected time for influenza in the Southern Hemisphere. [19]
Despite the rapid spread around the world through the middle of the year, the pandemic remained in a lull during the summer in the north following an explosive outbreak in the spring. [20] As predicted, the virus returned in epidemic proportions in the fall, earlier than the typical flu season but at a time when respiratory illnesses are known to become more prevalent. However, in countries such as Sweden, Norway, and France, the epidemic was "delayed" relative to its timing in other countries, such as the United States and Italy. This difference was attributed by some observers to a rhinovirus epidemic that broke out upon the reopening of schools, effectively "delaying" the rise in H1N1 cases until October. [21] [22] [23] Studies on this potential interaction between HRV and the pandemic influenza at times came to divergent conclusions, however. [24] While this "delay" in countries like Sweden was real (i.e., temporally speaking, the epidemic was later than in other places), studies also showed that coinfections were relatively common and that there was active cocirculation of the two viruses. [24] [25] [26]
A systematic analysis of studies from 26 countries found that the influenza epidemic delayed the onset of RSV activity by an average of 0.58 months to 2.5 months. The effect was more pronounced in the Northern Hemisphere as compared to the Southern Hemisphere, perhaps due to the timing of the influenza outbreak relative to the period of typical RSV activity in each region; the tropics, meanwhile, experienced minimal delay. This impact persisted into the second RSV season after the start of the pandemic, albeit to a lesser degree, and was no longer observed by the third season. [27]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the circulation of many respiratory viruses changed dramatically. Amid the rapid global spread of the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 throughout 2020, these viruses, including influenza, fell to historically low levels. Influenza activity remained virtually nonexistent into 2021, [28] when it began to be detected more frequently, but was still low during the 2021–2022 flu season. [29] RSV activity was similarly depressed during the first year of the pandemic, before resurging in 2021. [30] By contrast, cases of HRV and respiratory enteroviruses declined at the onset of the pandemic but soon returned to prepandemic levels, circulating relatively normally. [29]
The above reductions have generally been attributed to the imposition of nonpharmaceutical interventions, such as social distancing, mask use, and school closures. [31] [16] [32] However, viral interference has also been suggested as the driving force, or least another driving force, behind this major decline in viral activity, based in part on the experience of the 2009 pandemic. [33] [34] [32] [31] For example, in the winter of 2021–2022, during the surge of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States, influenza activity plummeted as the pandemic wave grew, peaking again in the spring once Omicron had subsided. [32] A similar phenomenon was observed in Hong Kong in March 2022, when other respiratory viruses "disappeared" during the surge before returning in April. [17] With respect to HRV and respiratory enteroviruses, whose behavior was evidently less affected during the pandemic, an apparent interplay between these and SARS-CoV-2, possibly mediated by viral interference, was identified in some places, such as California and South Korea. Although these viruses continued to circulate at near prepandemic levels, they were found to peak when SARS-CoV-2 activity was low and to decline as SARS-CoV-2 activity increased. [29]
Antiviral drugs are a class of medication used for treating viral infections. Most antivirals target specific viruses, while a broad-spectrum antiviral is effective against a wide range of viruses. Antiviral drugs are a class of antimicrobials, a larger group which also includes antibiotic, antifungal and antiparasitic drugs, or antiviral drugs based on monoclonal antibodies. Most antivirals are considered relatively harmless to the host, and therefore can be used to treat infections. They should be distinguished from virucides, which are not medication but deactivate or destroy virus particles, either inside or outside the body. Natural virucides are produced by some plants such as eucalyptus and Australian tea trees.
The rhinovirus is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the genus Enterovirus in the family Picornaviridae. Rhinovirus is the most common viral infectious agent in humans and is the predominant cause of the common cold.
Influenza A virus (IAV) is a pathogen that causes the flu in birds and some mammals, including humans. It is an RNA virus whose subtypes have been isolated from wild birds. Occasionally, it is transmitted from wild to domestic birds, and this may cause severe disease, outbreaks, or human influenza pandemics.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), also called human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) and human orthopneumovirus, is a contagious virus that causes infections of the respiratory tract. It is a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus. Its name is derived from the large cells known as syncytia that form when infected cells fuse.
Flu season is an annually recurring time period characterized by the prevalence of an outbreak of influenza (flu). The season occurs during the cold half of the year in each hemisphere. It takes approximately two days to show symptoms. Influenza activity can sometimes be predicted and even tracked geographically. While the beginning of major flu activity in each season varies by location, in any specific location these minor epidemics usually take about three weeks to reach its pinnacle, and another three weeks to significantly diminish.
An influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that spreads across a large region and infects a large proportion of the population. There have been six major influenza epidemics in the last 140 years, with the 1918 flu pandemic being the most severe; this is estimated to have been responsible for the deaths of 50–100 million people. The 2009 swine flu pandemic resulted in under 300,000 deaths and is considered relatively mild. These pandemics occur irregularly.
An emergent virus is a virus that is either newly appeared, notably increasing in incidence/geographic range or has the potential to increase in the near future. Emergent viruses are a leading cause of emerging infectious diseases and raise public health challenges globally, given their potential to cause outbreaks of disease which can lead to epidemics and pandemics. As well as causing disease, emergent viruses can also have severe economic implications. Recent examples include the SARS-related coronaviruses, which have caused the 2002–2004 outbreak of SARS (SARS-CoV-1) and the 2019–2023 pandemic of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). Other examples include the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes HIV/AIDS; the viruses responsible for Ebola; the H5N1 influenza virus responsible for avian influenza; and H1N1/09, which caused the 2009 swine flu pandemic. Viral emergence in humans is often a consequence of zoonosis, which involves a cross-species jump of a viral disease into humans from other animals. As zoonotic viruses exist in animal reservoirs, they are much more difficult to eradicate and can therefore establish persistent infections in human populations.
Pleconaril (Picovir) is an antiviral drug that was being developed by Schering-Plough for prevention of asthma exacerbations and common cold symptoms in patients exposed to picornavirus respiratory infections. Pleconaril, administered either orally or intranasally, is active against viruses in the Picornaviridae family, including Enterovirus and Rhinovirus. It has shown useful activity against the dangerous enterovirus D68.
Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), sometimes less precisely called immune enhancement or disease enhancement, is a phenomenon in which binding of a virus to suboptimal antibodies enhances its entry into host cells, followed by its replication. The suboptimal antibodies can result from natural infection or from vaccination. ADE may cause enhanced respiratory disease, but is not limited to respiratory disease. It has been observed in HIV, RSV virus and Dengue virus and is monitored for in vaccine development.
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu" or just "flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms begin one to four days after exposure to the virus and last for about two to eight days. Diarrhea and vomiting can occur, particularly in children. Influenza may progress to pneumonia from the virus or a subsequent bacterial infection. Other complications include acute respiratory distress syndrome, meningitis, encephalitis, and worsening of pre-existing health problems such as asthma and cardiovascular disease.
Influenza-like illness (ILI), also known as flu-like syndrome or flu-like symptoms, is a medical diagnosis of possible influenza or other illness causing a set of common symptoms. These include fever, shivering, chills, malaise, dry cough, loss of appetite, body aches, nausea, and sneezing typically in connection with a sudden onset of illness. In most cases, the symptoms are caused by cytokines released by immune system activation, and are thus relatively non-specific.
The 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1/swine flu/influenza virus and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) from June 2009 to August 2010, was the third recent flu pandemic involving the H1N1 virus. The first identified human case was in La Gloria, Mexico, a rural town in Veracruz. The virus appeared to be a new strain of H1N1 that resulted from a previous triple reassortment of bird, swine, and human flu viruses which further combined with a Eurasian pig flu virus, leading to the term "swine flu".
The pandemic H1N1/09 virus is a swine origin influenza A virus subtype H1N1 strain that was responsible for the 2009 swine flu pandemic. This strain is often called swine flu by the public media. For other names, see the Nomenclature section below.
Influenza prevention involves taking steps that one can use to decrease their chances of contracting flu viruses, such as the Pandemic H1N1/09 virus, responsible for the 2009 flu pandemic.
Chronic Mycoplasma pneumonia and Chlamydia pneumonia infections are associated with the onset and exacerbation of asthma. These microbial infections result in chronic lower airway inflammation, impaired mucociliary clearance, an increase in mucous production and eventually asthma. Furthermore, children who experience severe viral respiratory infections early in life have a high possibility of having asthma later in their childhood. These viral respiratory infections are mostly caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human rhinovirus (HRV). Although RSV infections increase the risk of asthma in early childhood, the association between asthma and RSV decreases with increasing age. HRV on the other hand is an important cause of bronchiolitis and is strongly associated with asthma development. In children and adults with established asthma, viral upper respiratory tract infections (URIs), especially HRVs infections, can produce acute exacerbations of asthma. Thus, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and human rhinoviruses are microbes that play a major role in non-atopic asthma.
Wendy Sue Fox is a British virologist. She is currently head of Department of Infectious Disease and chair in Influenza Virology at Imperial College London. She leads a team of scientists studying the influenza virus and its physiology and morphology to discover novel vaccines. In particular, they are trying to understand more about influenza virus mutations, and how they can allow scientists to create new vaccines against possible flu pandemics.
Convalescent plasma is the blood plasma collected from a survivor of an infectious disease. This plasma contains antibodies specific to a pathogen and can be used therapeutically by providing passive immunity when transfusing it to a newly infected patient with the same condition. Convalescent plasma can be transfused as it has been collected or become the source material for hyperimmune serum or anti-pathogen monoclonal antibodies; the latter consists exclusively of IgG, while convalescent plasma also includes IgA and IgM. Collection is typically achieved by apheresis, but in low-to-middle income countries, the treatment can be administered as convalescent whole blood.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had many impacts on global health beyond those caused by the COVID-19 disease itself. It has led to a reduction in hospital visits for other reasons. There have been 38 per cent fewer hospital visits for heart attack symptoms in the United States and 40 per cent fewer in Spain. The head of cardiology at the University of Arizona said, "My worry is some of these people are dying at home because they're too scared to go to the hospital." There is also concern that people with strokes and appendicitis are not seeking timely treatment. Shortages of medical supplies have impacted people with various conditions.
The 1977 Russian flu was an influenza pandemic that was first reported by the Soviet Union in 1977 and lasted until 1979. The outbreak in northern China started in May 1977, slightly earlier than that in the Soviet Union. The pandemic mostly affected a population younger than 25 or 26 years of age, and was described as mild. It was caused by an H1N1 flu strain which highly resembled a virus strain circulating worldwide from 1946 to 1957. Genetic analysis and several unusual characteristics of the 1977 Russian flu have prompted many researchers to say that the virus was released to the public through a laboratory accident, or resulted from a live-vaccine trial escape.
In the waning months of 2022, the first northern hemisphere autumn with the nearly full relaxation of public health precautions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals in the United States and Canada began to see overwhelming numbers of pediatric care patients, primarily driven by a massive upswing in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases, but also flu, rhinovirus, enterovirus, and SARS-CoV-2.