Abstract
Earlier studies of the effects of influenza virus on the ferret have shown:(i) intranasal inoculation of neonatal ferrets is universally fatal, whereas in 15 day old suckling or adult animals recovery is the rule.(ii) a proportion of the infected neonatal ferrets succumb with pathological evidence of an upper respiratory tract infection but no parenchymal lesions in the lungs, a finding analogous to that in a proportion of human sudden infant deaths (SIDS).(iii) organ cultures of neonatal ferret lung are more susceptible than adult lung and ciliated epithelium is more susceptible than alveolar epithelium to influenza virus.That these differences in survival might be related to changes in the structure of the lung associated with growth was investigated by morphometric techniques. These demonstrated:(i) that the ratio of ciliated to alveolar epithelium halved between birth and 15 days and halved again with the attainment of adulthood.(ii) that the size of the bronchi and bronchioles but not their number increased during the same period. The possible significance of these findings is discussed both in relation to the ferret and human neonate and infant.
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