Palese Peter
Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029, USA.
Nat Med. 2004 Dec;10(12 Suppl):S82-7. doi: 10.1038/nm1141.
Influenza remains an important disease in humans and animals. In contrast to measles, smallpox and poliomyelitis, influenza is caused by viruses that undergo continuous antigenic change and that possess an animal reservoir. Thus, new epidemics and pandemics are likely to occur in the future, and eradication of the disease will be difficult to achieve. Although it is not clear whether a new pandemic is imminent, it would be prudent to take into account the lessons we have learned from studying different human and animal influenza viruses. Specifically, reconstruction of the genes of the 1918 pandemic virus and studies on their contribution to virulence will be important steps toward understanding the biological capabilities of this lethal virus. Increasing the availability of new antiviral drugs and developing superior vaccines will provide us with better approaches to control influenza and to have a positive impact on disease load. A concern is that the imposition of new rules for working with infectious influenza viruses under high security and high containment conditions will stifle scientific progress. The complex questions of what makes an influenza virus transmissible from one human to another and from one species to another, as well as how the immune system interacts with the virus, will require the active collaboration and unencumbered work of many scientific groups.
流感在人类和动物中仍然是一种重要疾病。与麻疹、天花和脊髓灰质炎不同，流感由不断发生抗原变异且存在动物宿主的病毒引起。因此，未来很可能会出现新的流行病和大流行，且该疾病难以根除。虽然尚不清楚新的大流行是否即将来临，但考虑我们从研究不同的人类和动物流感病毒中吸取的经验教训是审慎之举。具体而言，重建1918年大流行病毒的基因并研究其对毒力的作用，将是了解这种致命病毒生物学特性的重要步骤。增加新型抗病毒药物的可及性并研发更优质的疫苗，将为我们提供更好的方法来控制流感并对疾病负担产生积极影响。一个担忧是，在高安全性和高隔离条件下对处理传染性流感病毒实施新规定会阻碍科学进步。关于是什么使流感病毒在人与人之间以及在物种之间传播，以及免疫系统如何与病毒相互作用等复杂问题，将需要许多科学团队的积极合作和不受阻碍的工作。
