Since the influenza virus was first isolated in the laboratory some 70 years ago, the disease has been the subject of intense study, and our knowledge has escalated as the newer techniques of medicine and science have made further advances possible. At the present time, our information of the disease and the virus that causes it is probably more detailed than for any other virus infection, perhaps excluding the human immunodeficiency virus. The subject of influenza divides itself into a number of specialities, and such is the pace of research and the depth of our knowledge, that workers in one area may have little understanding of the advances made in others.

This volume of Perspectives in Medical Virology has enlisted twelve internationally recognised researchers on specific aspects on the subject of influenza to write a summary of the important developments in the past and offer their views on the problems that remain to be addressed. It is hoped that their emphasis, reservations and projections are of value to future research, and offer directions for a better understanding of the virus, the disease it causes, the production of vaccines and the development of therapeutic agents so that at some date in the future this infection can be brought under control.

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The Influenza Viruses (Virology Monographs Die Virusforschung in Einzeldarstellungen)

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Because of its high impact on both animal and human health, avian influenza has become a matter of increasing public concern and growing scientific interest within the last decade. This volume gives an overview of the most important results of these research efforts and provides information about the ecology and epidemiology of avian influenza with particular emphasis on recent H5N1 outbreaks in China, Siberia and Europe. Several articles deal with new vaccination strategies, the use of antivirals and other control measures to combat outbreaks of avian influenza.Further chapters illustrate that molecular biology, culminating in the generation of influenza viruses by recombinant DNA technology, was instrumental in unraveling the roles of the viral hemagglutinin and polymerase as well as cellular signaling pathways and innate immunity in pathogenesis and interspecies transmission. Finally, the threat of a pandemic originating from avian influenza viruses is illustrated by the example of the Spanish influenza of 1918. This comprehensive publication on avian influenza viruses and their relevance for human influenza will be of great value to all influenza virologists, molecular biologists, public health scientists, veterinary virologists, ecologists, and scientists engaged in drug design and vaccine development.

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