From The Bio Weapons Lab at St. Jude's Children's Hospital

A Pilot Study of Influenza Viruses Isolated From Immunocompromised Children and Adolescents 2021

Sponsor:

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

-The Immunocompromised are more likely to have serious influenza and complications than those who have no underlying medical problems.

-They are more likely to have prolonged influenza illnesses and to shed influenza viruses from their noses for long periods of time (sometimes for months).

• Influenza viruses may also be carried and shed from the gastrointestinal tract.

• New types of influenza viruses emerge frequently through mutations that occur when the viruses replicate.

• Mutations allow the virus to escape from killing by the immune system

• It is possible that viruses can mutate when they are carried in the respiratory or gastrointestinal tracts for long periods, potentially giving rise to viruses that spread more easily to other persons, cause more severe disease, lead to new influenza epidemics or make the viruses resistant to drugs used to treat influenza.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02352389