Frenc researchers and from Brazilian (Belo Horizonte), Scottish (Glasgow) and Danish (Copenhagen) laboratories have shown for the first time in mice that perturbation of the gut microbiota caused by the influenza virus favours secondary bacterial superinfection. These results open up new prospects for the prevention and treatment of bacterial pneumonia, a major cause of death in elderly or vulnerable people infected with the influenza virus.
Source: Influenza: combating bacterial superinfection with the help of the microbiota