Respiratory Immune Responses in Human Influenza Virus Infection Across Age to Understand What Dictates Disease Severity
Respiratory Immune Responses in Human Influenza Virus Infection Across Age to Understand What Dictates Disease Severity
The goal of this observational study is to understand immune responses to viral airway infection in adults, including the elderly. The main question(s) to answer is/are:
Why do some individuals acquire only asymptomatic or mild Influenza A virus (IAV) infection while others become severely ill and even succumb to the same disease?
Participants will be asked to donate samples when seeking health care for influenza-like symptoms or if hospitalized for IAV or SARS-CoV-2. Samples asked for are:
Researchers will compare obtained results with the same type of samples from healthy controls.
This observational study will specifically investigate different immunological parameters in blood and at the site of infection in patients with IAV symptoms or confirmed infection to understand parameters related to disease course. Blood and airway samples will be analyzed for immune cell subsets and their functionality, antibodies and other soluble mediators and linked to clinical data. Immune cells will be analyzed using multi-color flow cytometry, RNA sequencing, and in vitro functionality assays. Fluids (plasma, serum, supernatants from airway samples and cell culture supernatants) will be analyzed using ELISA (and or similar methods), proximity extension assay (Olink), etc.
Inclusion Criteria Patients:
Exclusion Criteria Patients:
Exclusion Criteria Controls: