Role of Staphylococcus protease in the development of influenza pneumonia

M. Tashiro, P. Ciborowski, H. D. Klenk, G. Pulverer, R. Rott

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

234 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)536-537
Number of pages2
JournalNature
Volume325
Issue number6104
DOIs
StatePublished - 1987
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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