Findings in bird flu reported from Sun Yat-Sen University, Department of Microbiology
2009 JUL 28 - (NewsRx.com) -- Current study results from the report, 'Infection and replication of avian influenza H5N1 virus in an infected human,' have been published. According to recent research from Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, "The highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses usually cause severe diseases and high mortality in infected humans. However, the tissue tropism and underlying pathogenesis of H5N1 virus infection in humans have not been clearly elucidated yet." "In this study, an autopsy was conducted to better understand H5N1 virus distributions in tissues of infected humans, and whether H5N1 virus can replicate in extrapulmonary tissues. We found that the lungs had the higher viral load than the spleen, whereas no detectable viruses in tissues of heart, liver, kidney, large intestine, small intestine, or brain. Specifically, the viral load was higher in the left lung (7.1 log10 copies per ml) in relation to the right lung (5.7 log10 copies per ml), resulting in more severe pathological damage in the left lung, and lung tissues contained both positive-and negative-stranded viral RNA. However, there existed a low level of H5N1 viruses in the spleen (3.8 log10 copies per ml), with the absence of positive-stranded viral RNA. Our results indicate that replication of H5N1 viruses mainly occurs in the lungs, and the degree of lung damage is highly correlated with the viral load in the lungs," wrote J.J. Zhou and colleagues, Sun Yat-Sen University, Department of Microbiology. The researchers concluded: "The low-load viruses in the spleen might be introduced through blood circulation or other ways." Zhou and colleagues published their study in Virus Genes (Infection and replication of avian influenza H5N1 virus in an infected human. Virus Genes, 2009;39(1):76-80). For additional information, contact J.J. Zhou, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Dept. of Microbiology, Sun Yat-sen University, 74 Zhongshan Road II, Guangzhou 510080, People's Taiwan. Publisher contact information for the journal Virus Genes is: Springer, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA. Keywords: People's Republic of China, Guangzhou, Autopsy, Avian Flu, Avian Influenza, Bird Flu, Gastroenterology, Surgery, Viral, Viral Load, Virology, Virus. This article was prepared by World Disease Weekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, World Disease Weekly via NewsRx.com.
|
