Influenza Curbs Part of Immune System and Abets Bacterial Infections
When infected with influenza, the body becomes an easy target for bacteria. The flu virus alters the host's immune system and compromises its capacity to effectively fight off bacterial infections. Now, a team of immunologists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and cooperation partners has discovered that an immune system molecule called TLR7 is partly to blame. The molecule recognizes the viral genome -- and then signals scavenger cells of the immune system to ingest fewer bacteria.previous post
