Grant: Project Grant

Many of us have experienced "the flu" and know it's an unpleasant, but largely self-limiting disease - after a week or so you get better. However, sometimes complications can turn this infection life-threatening. One such complication is when a person also gets infected with bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus. These co-infection events lead to increased morbidity and mortality and are difficult to treat. In this proposal, we will examine co-infection at the molecular level. In the lab, we will look at exactly how the presence of the bacteria affects how the virus grows. Understanding these details at the level of each pathogen will allow us to design new ways to attack them. We will also examine a cohort of patient data and determine how flu infection predisposes people to severe bacterial sepsis. Overall, this project will look further into a specific complication of flu infection and aims to identify unique features that can be used to predict disease severity and improve patient outcome.