Influenza Virus Co-Circulation and Emergence of New Variants.

Abstract

The “Spanish flu” caused by 1918 Influenza A H1N1 virus was the first recorded devastating Influenza pandemic which took the lives of millions of people. It’s almost a decade ago, after reconstructing and characterizing the genes responsible for its extra-ordinary virulence and transmissibility; still it is the virus which is continuously evolving, re-emerging and learning more and more about how to evade host immune response as well as to resist the anti-viral agents and be successful. But unfortunately we fail at identifying the solutions for the mystery of Influenza virus evolution. A writer, Richard Reeves has quoted about Influenza as follows- “It is perfectly obvious that no one or any single country can save the world from the horrors of tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes and winged influenza”.