Respiratory Syncytia Virus

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common, contagious infection of the lungs and the respiratory tract. RSV is characterized by syncytia, which are multinuclear cells created by cells that have fused together. Because of experimental limitations, it is difficult to measure characteristics such as viral production rate and lifespan of the syncytia cells. We use mathematical models to study how different assumptions about the viral production and lifespan of syncytia change the resulting infection to determine whether indirect measurements can be used in place of experimental results.