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One hundred years ago, physicians treating infectious diseases would have been acutely aware of the danger of secondary bacterial infections after viral infection. As the 20th century wore on, a combination of increased specialization in health care research and the widespread use of penicillin created gaps in the understanding of the synergy between virus and bacteria. However, recent developments have brought viral?bacterial interactions back to the forefront of research in infectious diseases.
Jonathan A. McCullers, MD, of the department of infectious diseases at St. Jude Children?s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., told Infectious Diseases in Children that up until the 1930s and 1940s, secondary bacterial infections after influenza infection were appreciated as a major public health concern that caused substantial morbidity and mortality.
?The concept of coinfection was lost for several decades due to the breakdown into a one-pathogen, one-host model,? McCullers said. ?But this is not how infections work in the real world.?
During the past 10 years, the infectious diseases specialty has done a complete turnaround and is now looking more broadly at everything from host?immune response to multiple pathogens, he said.
Herbert L. DuPont, MD, said the German strain of E. coli is a new and more lethel organism than previous incarnations of the disease.
Dennis W. Metzger, PhD, director of the Center for Immunology and Microbial Disease at Albany Medical College, said interferon-gamma plays a role in the treatment of bacterial infection following influenza.
Photo courtesy of Metzger DW
?Now everybody wants to study this,? McCullers said. ?Major public health agencies are funding studies on viral interactions, and data are starting to trickle out that indicate what clinicians have known for some time: Secondary pneumonia following influenza infection is a big problem.?
Although most of the focus in the area of viral?bacterial interactions is on secondary infections after influenza, research also is being conducted on topics ranging from otitis media to respiratory syncytial virus and rhinovirus. The data that are emerging are a unique combination of new information and old information re-examined, and as the paths of study are redefined after a long hiatus, researchers often find themselves starting at the ground level.
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Jonathan A. McCullers, MD, of the department of infectious diseases at St. Jude Children?s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., told Infectious Diseases in Children that up until the 1930s and 1940s, secondary bacterial infections after influenza infection were appreciated as a major public health concern that caused substantial morbidity and mortality.
?The concept of coinfection was lost for several decades due to the breakdown into a one-pathogen, one-host model,? McCullers said. ?But this is not how infections work in the real world.?
During the past 10 years, the infectious diseases specialty has done a complete turnaround and is now looking more broadly at everything from host?immune response to multiple pathogens, he said.
Herbert L. DuPont, MD, said the German strain of E. coli is a new and more lethel organism than previous incarnations of the disease.
Dennis W. Metzger, PhD, director of the Center for Immunology and Microbial Disease at Albany Medical College, said interferon-gamma plays a role in the treatment of bacterial infection following influenza.
Photo courtesy of Metzger DW
?Now everybody wants to study this,? McCullers said. ?Major public health agencies are funding studies on viral interactions, and data are starting to trickle out that indicate what clinicians have known for some time: Secondary pneumonia following influenza infection is a big problem.?
Although most of the focus in the area of viral?bacterial interactions is on secondary infections after influenza, research also is being conducted on topics ranging from otitis media to respiratory syncytial virus and rhinovirus. The data that are emerging are a unique combination of new information and old information re-examined, and as the paths of study are redefined after a long hiatus, researchers often find themselves starting at the ground level.
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