Speaker
Prof.
Luca Peliti
(Naples)
Description
Influenza exhibits two apparently contradictory features: on
the one hand, any given individual can get infected with the
disease over and over again, since the virus mutates fast
enough to escape acquired immunity; on the other hand, on
any given epidemic season, the viral strain is sufficiently
well-defined, so that an effective vaccine can be
identified. It represents a problem in evolutionary dynamics
in which the molecular level and the epidemiological level
are tightly bound. Several mechanisms have been proposed to
explain this behavior, but a satisfactory answer is still
lacking. I shall review the recent debate on the subject and
point out the most promising directions of research.
Primary author
Prof.
Luca Peliti
(Naples)
