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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Flu virus hitches a ride with haze particles deep into the lung

Fine particulate pollution help the virus to enter cells, which might explain why influenza is worse when air quality is bad.
Influenza virus particles (blue) covering red blood cells (red).

Influenza particles (blue; artificially coloured), seen here on red blood cells, can get an assist from fine-particle pollution. Credit: NIBSC/SPL

Fine particles of pollution ferry influenza virus deep into the lungs and, from there, the blood carries it to distant organs, research in mice shows1.

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Nature 618, 651 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01898-x

References

  1. Dong, Z. et al. Sci. Adv. 9, eadf2165 (2023).

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