Authors: Irina Kiseleva, Natalie Larionova

Influenza: A Century of Research

eBook: US $59 Special Offer (PDF + Printed Copy): US $108
Printed Copy: US $78
Library License: US $236
ISBN: 978-1-68108-845-7 (Print)
ISBN: 978-1-68108-844-0 (Online)
Year of Publication: 2021
DOI: 10.2174/97816810884401210101

Introduction

Influenza is one of the most ancient and intriguing diseases that has been accompanying our civilization for millennia. While mankind has successfully defeated many dangerous influenza infections in the last couple of centuries, influenza control remains a serious problem for public health. A number of influenza vaccines and antiviral compounds have been licensed in recent times. However, the influenza virus is still ahead of us, as it continues to persistently infect humans to this day. Influenza: A Century of Research shows how influenza virology has developed historically and the tremendous knowledge that has been uncovered in the study of influenza. In this monograph, the authors present a historical perspective on influenza, chronologically, with an emphasis on its virology. Chapters cover information about the isolation of the first influenza viruses, substrates, and models for studying influenza, structure, and life cycle of the influenza virus, mechanisms of attenuation and virulence. Chapters progress into the multidisciplinary aspects of influenza research such as influenza virus ecology and the evolutionary origin of epidemic and pandemic influenza viruses. A significant part of the book also covers the description of the prevention and treatment of influenza and reasons that have contributed to insufficient control for influenza. The questions of how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the circulation of seasonal respiratory viruses, and if we can eliminate this virus are also addressed.

Influenza: A Century of Research is an informative source of information for a broad range of readers, academic or otherwise, who are interested in knowing more about the disease.

Foreword

Almost 100 years have passed since the discovery of the first influenza virus. Intensive research and advances in scientific methods have largely filled the information gap and blank spots in virology, but not fully. “Influenza: A Century of Research” is a comprehensive Book covering in condensed form a success achieved over a century of studying the virus from the discovery of the first influenza virus through to the main aspects of influenza and the development of vaccines and antivirals.

Clearly written by two experts in the field, the book is easy to read. Illustrations in full color are simple for understanding and suggestive and the bibliography is quite comprehensive – the Book is filled with 855 references from the era of discovery of the first viruses until the last findings in the influenza research. The Book summarizes and systematizes available information on this regard and aims to contribute to emphasize the need for better control for influenza.

The book is divided into seven key chapters covering historical aspects, models, and substrates for studying influenza virus, replication, ecology and evolution of influenza virus, prophylaxis and treatment, the impact of influenza and COVID-19 pandemics on the circulation of seasonal respiratory viruses. As an expert in influenza chemotherapy, I am most impressed by the sections examined types of influenza vaccines and anti-influenza drugs. “Influenza: A Century of Research” offers a high level of consistency of chapters. Their flow constitutes a continuous narrative coupled with the text’s clear, enables readers from professionals to students to grasp key principles of influenza virology with ease.

The discussion of the reasons contributed to insufficient control for influenza is of particular interest. We cannot predict the future but we can try to protect ourselves from the influenza burden. The contents of this book are intended for all those working or studying in the area of influenza. I have read this Book with great interest and can recommend it to a wide range of readers, who will have to evaluate how the authors coped with their task.

Vladimir V. Zarubaev.
St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology,
St. Petersburg, Russia




Endorsement

There are few subjects with such a history of cooperation involving the former USSR as influenza. In at least 3 instances they resulted in noteworthy outcomes. 1: development of cold-adapted live vaccines, pioneered in the USSR, and for which new versions are approved in the USA. 2: the antiviral rimantadine, used in the USSR, was confirmed as not having the hallucinogenic side effect seen with amantadine, used in the west, thus replacing it, and 3: the first pandemic type A (H1N1) virus since the 1950s was found in the USSR in 1977, shared with the world and was the reference strain for vaccine production.

Having a new generation of Russian scientists review the history of influenza is a welcoming gesture for the true international cooperation in the field.

Dr. Alan P. Kendal, Ph.D.
Former Chief of the Influenza Branch,
CDC, Atlanta, GA, the US
kendal2@outlook.com