Lack of nutrient turns flu nasty
By Ben Harder
From San Diego, at Nutrition Week
A dietary deficiency in an essential trace mineral may cause a usually harmless strain of the flu to mutate into a virulent pathogen.
Studies have suggested that pathogens called coxsackieviruses might be more likely to mutate in hosts that are short on selenium, a metal involved in producing protective compounds called antioxidants. Recent research suggests a similar tendency toward mutation for at least one strain of influenza virus, says Melinda A. Beck of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.