Language: English
The healthcare portal for patients and the general public in Europe
This service contains links to third party websites. EPG Patient Direct is not in a position to verify this information and cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the content contained.
19 Aug 2008
Scientists have discovered that survivors of the 1918 influenza pandemic - which resulted in the deaths of between 20 and 40 million people - were immune to the condition for the rest of their lives.
Researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan, USA, have been able to extract antibodies from elderly people who survived the event.
Contributing author Dr Christopher Basler states: "The antibodies produced by these cells demonstrated remarkable power to block 1918 flu virus infection in mice, proving that even nine decades after infection with this virus, survivors retain protection from it."
The scientists took blood samples from 32 people who were born before 1918 and lived through the pandemic. Staff from the Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, USA, then produced the antibodies and tested them in mice.
It was found that the survivors have virus-neutralising antibodies which have lasted for some 90 years.
According to the researchers, the findings could serve as a potential therapy for a similar virus.
Click here to visit the Flu Quick Guide
Delicious
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
