Influenza: exposing the true killer

Heather L Van Epps1

  • 1hvanepps@rockefeller.edu

Insights

Richard Shope isolated the influenza virus from pigs in the 1930s. This discovery proved that a virus, not bacteria, causes influenza in humans and animals.

Area of Science:

  • Virology
  • Microbiology
  • Infectious Diseases

Background:

  • Historically, influenza was mistakenly attributed to bacterial causes.
  • The early 20th century saw significant advancements in understanding infectious agents.

Observation:

  • Richard Shope successfully isolated the influenza virus from pigs in the early 1930s.
  • Subsequent research rapidly led to the isolation of the influenza virus from human patients.

Findings:

  • The isolation of the influenza virus from both pigs and humans provided definitive proof of its etiological role.
  • This finding overturned the prevailing belief that bacteria were responsible for influenza.

Implications:

  • Established the viral nature of influenza, paving the way for future research into antiviral therapies and vaccines.
  • Revolutionized the field of infectious disease, highlighting the importance of virological studies.
  • Impacted public health strategies for managing and preventing influenza outbreaks.

Related Concept Videos

Influenza01:27

Influenza

Influenza is an acute, highly communicable viral disease that affects the respiratory tract and is responsible for seasonal epidemics worldwide. Influenza A is the most prevalent type associated with widespread outbreaks and is subtyped based on two surface glycoproteins: hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N), as in H1N1. These glycoproteins are essential for viral infectivity, transmission, and immune recognition. Transmission occurs primarily through respiratory droplets and contaminated...
Vaccinations01:51

Vaccinations

Overview
Cytotoxic T Cells-mediated Immune Response01:27

Cytotoxic T Cells-mediated Immune Response

Cytotoxic T cells are a vital component of the immune system. They have the remarkable ability to identify and target antigens on infected or abnormal cells. These antigens often originate from intracellular pathogens such as viruses or abnormal proteins cancer cells produce.
Immunological surveillance is the ability of immune cells to monitor and eliminate infected cells with intracellular pathogens, neoplastically transformed cells, and cells with non-self antigens. Cytotoxic T cells and NK...
Immune Response Against Viral Pathogens01:29

Immune Response Against Viral Pathogens

The immune system's response to viral infections is a complex and coordinated process involving natural killer (NK) cells, T cell-mediated responses, and antibody-mediated responses.
NK Cells
NK cells are a crucial part of our innate immune system, acting as the first line of defense against viral infections. These cells can recognize and kill infected cells without prior exposure to the virus, effectively slowing down the spread of infection. Additionally, NK cells produce proinflammatory...
Cells of the Innate Immune Response01:28

Cells of the Innate Immune Response

The innate immune response is an immediate and non-specific response against pathogens, acting swiftly to prevent the spread of infections. The primary cells involved in this response are phagocytes and natural killer (NK) cells.
Phagocytes
Phagocytes police the peripheral tissues by removing cellular debris and responding to the invasion of foreign substances or pathogens. Many phagocytes attack and remove microorganisms even before lymphocytes detect them. The human body has two general...
Leaky Scanning02:28

Leaky Scanning

During most eukaryotic translation processes, the small 40S ribosome subunit scans an mRNA from its 5' end until it encounters the first start AUG codon. The large 60S ribosomal subunit then joins the smaller one to initiate protein synthesis. The location of the translation initiation is largely determined by the nucleotides near the start codon as there may be multiple translation initiation sites present on the mRNA.  Marilyn Kozak discovered that the sequence RCCAUGG (where R stands for...