Caitlin D. Bohannon
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA
Title: Influenza virus targets innate and adaptive immune cells, suppressing the immune response to homologous and heterologous antigens
Biography
Biography: Caitlin D. Bohannon
Abstract
Influenza is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with the WHO estimating around 3 to 5 million serious cases of influenza globally, resulting in 250,000-500,000 deaths annually. Secondary infections further complicate influenza’s morbidity and mortality, and significantly factored into the severity of the 1918 and more recent 2009 pandemics. The most common coinfections are bacterial, leading to bacterial pneumonia, though viral secondary infections may also occur. Previous studies have shown that influenza can target innate responses and damage affected tissues, opening the door for secondary infection. In this study we show that influenza virus targets not only innate immune responses but also the adaptive response - specifically activated B cells, T cells, and NKT cells. Finally, we explored the mechanism by which the virus targets these cells to suppress the immune responses to both homologous and heterologous antigens – potentially leaving the host more susceptible to coinfection.