Ecological and individual data both indicate that influenza inhibits rhinovirus infection

We read the article “Virus–virus interactions impact the population dynamics of influenza and the common cold” by Nickbakhsh et al. (1) with great interest. The authors analyzed a large Scottish dataset consisting of virology results from patients with acute respiratory illnesses and used mathematical models to identify a negative interaction between influenza and rhinovirus (RV) infection. Furthermore, they performed epidemiologic simulations demonstrating that influenza-mediated induction of a refractory period could account for the significant reduction in RV illness prevalence. In fact, we demonstrated that influenza can induce a refractory period using individual-level data obtained from a cohort of children that … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: kloepfer{at}iu.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1