Washington- Influenza virus coats itself with a fatty substance, which gets hard and protects the virus in colder temperatures and this coating melts in the respiratory tract. This allows the virus to infect the cells, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.
The researchers from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) found out that influenza viruses coat themselves with a fatty protein namely hemagglutinin. This coat hardens and protects them at low temperatures. The researchers used a kind of imaging known as nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI) to examine the outer cover of the flu viruses.
Joshua Zimmerberg of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) said, “The protective coat melts in the respiratory tract, like an M&M in your mouth”.
“Only in this liquid stage, the virus is capable of entering and infecting a cell”, said Joshua Zimmerberg, who led the study, published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology. The researchers believe that this finding could explain why winter is flu season.
