Editor's Summary

23 March 2006

Something in the airways

Thankfully there have been no reports of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The existences of a molecular barrier that may contribute to this situation has now been confirmed in patients. The key is the distribution in the human airway of the different receptors preferred by avian and human derived viruses. The bird virus binds preferentially to binding molecules that are common in the lower respiratory tract but are less well represented in the upper respiratory tract. As a result, the virus is not readily spread by droplet infection or cough.

Brief Communications: Avian flu: Influenza virus receptors in the human airway

Avian and human flu viruses seem to target different regions of a patient's respiratory tract.

Kyoko Shinya, Masahito Ebina, Shinya Yamada, Masao Ono, Noriyuki Kasai and Yoshihiro Kawaoka

doi:10.1038/440435a

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