Insights into the complex interactions involving respiratory viruses, bacteria and the human host at the epithelial surface of the conducting airways

With a lack of understanding around the interactions between microorganisms of the human respiratory airway and the host, a fully differentiated primary airway epithelial model was established to elucidate any relationships between the host airway, Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) bacteria and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Results showed that concurrent or sequential infection with RSV, facilitated a significant amount of NTHi transversely migrating to the basolateral surface. Intracellular bacterial communities (IBC) were unaffected by co-infection of RSV. NTHi was also found to suppress RSV load but had no impact when introduced after viral infection. RSV also impacted NTHi colonisation.