Human transmission kinetics during natural influenza virus infection

The purpose of this study is to investigate the transmission kinetics of human influenza viruses during the course of natural infections. The study is designed in such a way that index cases and their household contacts are followed for one month following enrollment. With this approach, we are able to capture both index cases already showing symptoms of disease, as well as household contacts who may become influenza-positive or who asymptomatically seroconvert. Influenza viral genome sequencing was performed on samples taken from Influenza-positive participants, and 16S sequencing was performed on samples taken from both influenza positive and influenza negative participants to determine how the nasal cavity microbiota changes during the course of an influenza infection.