Scientists fight influenza on many fronts. Some travel the globe, monitoring the flu virus strains that circulate in the bustling live poultry markets of the world. Others work in laboratories, where they painstakingly piece together the atom-by-atom structure of key flu virus proteins or work to develop new influenza vaccines and drugs.

Some scientists look to the past for clues about how the flu virus evolves, while others think about the future: when and where the next pandemic might strike.

Visitors to Focus on the Flu can follow this exciting research by reading lay-language summaries under the heading "Flu Fighters." Those interested in more details can delve deeper via links to the actual research papers and the scientists' own web pages.

Visitors also can learn about how the influenza virus works, about the difference between a cold and the flu, and about new flu treatments and promising experimental vaccines.

Focus on the Flu also offers links to other related information and organizations.

NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies.

Related websites:

Focus on the Flu

NIAID


[Contact: Jeff Minerd]

08-Nov-2001