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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42537731...-cold_and_flu/
Flu infection needed to spread pneumonia
Study of mice finds that only those with flu virus could spread secondary diseases
By Amanda Chan
MyHealthNewsDaily
updated 1 hour 0 minutes ago 2011-04-11T18:07:02
The flu is known to spur secondary diseases like pneumonia and meningitis, but new animal research suggests that the bacteria that cause these illnesses are only able to spread among people who already have the flu.
Researchers found that infant mice were only able to contract Streptococcus pneumoniae (which causes pneumonia and bacterial meningitis) if they were already infected with the flu. When influenza infection was blocked in the mice, the pneumococcal bacteria were unable to spread, said study researcher Dimitri Diavatopoulo of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands.
Even though the results were only shown in mice, "we feel that our observations are an accurate representation of what's happening in the human population," Diavatopoulo told MyHealthNewsDaily...
Flu infection needed to spread pneumonia
Study of mice finds that only those with flu virus could spread secondary diseases
By Amanda Chan
MyHealthNewsDaily
updated 1 hour 0 minutes ago 2011-04-11T18:07:02
The flu is known to spur secondary diseases like pneumonia and meningitis, but new animal research suggests that the bacteria that cause these illnesses are only able to spread among people who already have the flu.
Researchers found that infant mice were only able to contract Streptococcus pneumoniae (which causes pneumonia and bacterial meningitis) if they were already infected with the flu. When influenza infection was blocked in the mice, the pneumococcal bacteria were unable to spread, said study researcher Dimitri Diavatopoulo of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands.
Even though the results were only shown in mice, "we feel that our observations are an accurate representation of what's happening in the human population," Diavatopoulo told MyHealthNewsDaily...