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Role of Staphylococcus protease in the development of influenza pneumonia

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Abstract

In influenza the combined virus–bacterial pneumonia is approximately three times more common than primary viral pneumonia1. The bacteria most commonly involved are Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. S. aureus co-infection is reported to have a fatality rate of up to 42% (ref. 2). It is thought that virus infection in the respiratory tract favours growth conditions for bacteria. In this letter data are presented which show that some S. aureus strains secrete a protease which exerts a decisive influence on the outcome of influenza virus infection in mice by cleavage activation of the virus haemag-glutinin.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Virologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, 6300, Giessen, FRG

    M. Tashiro, H.-D. Klenk & R. Rott

  2. Institut für Hygiene, Universität Köln, 5000, Köln, FRG

    P. Ciborowski & G. Pulverer

Authors
  1. M. Tashiro
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  2. P. Ciborowski
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  3. H.-D. Klenk
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  4. G. Pulverer
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  5. R. Rott
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Tashiro, M., Ciborowski, P., Klenk, HD. et al. Role of Staphylococcus protease in the development of influenza pneumonia. Nature 325, 536–537 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/325536a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/325536a0

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