| Abstract | Influenza is a growing concern for health authorities worldwide. Annual influenza epidemics result in an estimated 3-5 million cases of severe illness every year. With the looming threat of pandemic influenza and the recent emergence of virulent avian (H5N1) and swine (H1N1) strains, it is critical to understand the factors that lead to severe influenza viral infections. Recent publications have shown that avian and human influenza strains target different cell types in the lung. Specifically, human influenza strains seem to preferentially bind to cell receptors found mainly on nonciliated, mucus producing cells, while avian influenza strains appear to preferentially bind cell receptors found predominantly on ciliated cells. It is unclear, however, how this difference in cell tropism between the two strains affects the dynamics of influenza viral infection in humans. We developed a mathematical model describing the spread of influenza within a population of cells consisting of two different cell types. Our results show that the presence of two different cell types can lead to a high viral load which is sustained for long periods of time, which is believed to be a characteristic of severe avian influenza virus infections in human. I will discuss under which conditions this behavior can arise out of the proposed model and how it relates to human versus avian infection severity. |
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