A concurrent infection with influenza A virus is one of the factors implicated in the induction of invasive pneumococcal disease during asymptomatic Streptococcus pneumoniae carriage. Here we describe a mixed infection method using infant mice to investigate the synergism between these two respiratory pathogens.
Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) can cause severe bronchiolitis in young infants. Part of the pathogenesis of severe HRSV disease is caused by the host immune response. Stimulation of primary human immune cells with HRSV provides a fast and reproducible model system to study activation of inflammatory pathways and infection.