Figure 1. Duration of viral shedding in immunocompromised patients.

(Left) The reported duration of viral shedding for individual immunocompromised patients infected with influenza as chronicled in the literature is indicated by bar length. Infection outcome is indicated (died or recovered) when known, or labelled as unreported with ‘?’. (Right) Viral titer time courses of immunocompromised patients infected with influenza. Since all patients were treated with various courses of antivirals and given the prolonged shedding in these patients, recovery is most likely due to the eventual success of antiviral therapy rather than to clearance of the infection by the limited host immune response.