Viral coinfection of mouse respiratory system

Viral and bacterial coinfections are common in nature, but infrequently studied in laboratory models of infection. We observed disease severity differences in mice infected with two of three possible respiratory viruses, depending on the order of the infection. To discover the mechanisms causing these differences, we compared gene expression responses of lung tissue at three time points following viral coinfection. Differential gene expression and immune cell counts suggest a dampening of immune responses in mice infected with rhinovirus followed by influenza A virus or pneumonia virus of mice.