How the influenza virus works

To spread in the body, flu viruses first use a protein called Hemagglutinin to bind to receptors of healthy cells.

Influenza viruses rely on a protein to bind to healthy cells.

Once RNA is inserted and replicated, the virus uses an enzyme , Neuraminidase , to cut the connection and move on to the next healthy cell.

Current flu medications prevent the virus from moving to the next cell by stopping the neuraminidase from connecting to the infected cell, or binding it to the infected cell and waiting for the immune system to eliminate it.

A flu drug developed at UBC (University of British Columbia) attaches to the neuraminidase like a broken key, locked in a lock, rendering it useless and has been shown to be effective against resistant strains of influenza virus.