Prevention and treatment of swine-origin influenza virus with interferon: an in vivo and ex vivo study
JM Nicholls1, RWY Chan2, E Fish3
1 Department of Pathology, The University of Hong Kong
2 Department of Microbiology, The University of Hong Kong
3 Department of Immunology, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
 
 
1. Prophylactic interferon reduces infection with influenza H1N1pdm in lung tissue. Therapeutic interferon is beneficial in lung tissue but not in bronchial tissue.
2. Exogenous interferon appears to be useful for pulmonary involvement of influenza viruses (H1N1 and H5N1) but may not be of significant benefit for bronchial infection. For influenza virus infections that are resistant to current antiviral agents, interferon therapy offers a potential benefit.