New Hybrid Virus Discovered as Flu And RSV Fuse Into Single Pathogen

Science Alert  October 31, 2022 Interactions between respiratory viruses during infection affect transmission dynamics and clinical outcomes. To identify and characterize virus–virus interactions at the cellular level, researchers in the UK coinfected human lung cells with influenza A virus (IAV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Super-resolution microscopy, live-cell imaging, scanning electron microscopy and cryo-electron tomography revealed extracellular and membrane-associated filamentous structures consistent with hybrid viral particles (HVPs). They found that HVPs harbor surface glycoproteins and ribonucleoproteins of IAV and RSV. HVPs use the RSV fusion glycoprotein to evade anti-IAV neutralizing antibodies and infect and spread among cells lacking IAV receptors…read […]