Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Many of us have experienced "the flu", a disease caused by the influenza virus. We know the flu is an unpleasant, but largely self-limiting disease - after a week or so you get better. However, sometimes complications can turn this infection into a serious disease called pneumonia. One such complication is when a person also gets infected with bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). These co-infection events lead to increased sickness and death and are hard to treat. Our research investigates how these two pathogens interact with each other during disease to harm us. We are interested in the bi-directional relationship, and examine the behaviour of both pathogens during co-infection. We use co-infection models in vitro (in the lab), as well as animal models of the disease. Understanding these details at the level of each pathogen will allow us to design new ways to attack them. Plus, if we know what makes the virus or the bacteria grow better, we can see if any of the drugs we already have can be used to decrease that effect. Flu can infect everyone, but it is particularly dangerous to patients that already have a lung condition, or a weakened immune system. The complication of co-infection makes the flu very dangerous and difficult to treat. Our research will understand how co-infection is different than flu alone and hopefully develop ways to to lessen the severity of the disease.