Exploring virus release as a bottleneck for the spread of influenza A virus infection in vitro and the implications for antiviral therapy with neuraminidase inhibitors.

Mathematical models (MMs) have been used to study the kinetics of influenza A virus infections under antiviral therapy, and to characterize the efficacy of antivirals such as neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs). NAIs prevent viral neuraminidase from cleaving sialic acid receptors that bind virus progeny to the surface of infected cells, thereby inhibiting their release, suppressing infection spread. When used to study treatment with NAIs, MMs represent viral release implicitly as part of viral replication.