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University of Nebraska Medical Center

How do viruses get into cells? Their infection tactics determine whether they can jump species or set off a pandemic

The Conversation

COVID-19, flu, mpox, noroviral diarrhea: How do the viruses that cause these diseases actually infect you?

Viruses cannot replicate on their own, so they must infect cells in your body to make more copies of themselves. The life cycle of a virus can thus be roughly described as: get inside a cell, make more virus, get out, repeat.

Getting inside a cell, or viral entry, is the part of the cycle that most vaccines target, as well as a key barrier for viruses jumping from one species to another. My lab and many others study this process to better anticipate and combat emerging viruses.

How viruses enter cells

Different viruses travel into the body in various ways – via airborne droplets, on food, through contact with mucous membranes or through injection. They typically first infect host cells near their site of entry – the cells lining the respiratory tract for most airborne viruses – then either remain there or spread throughout the body.

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