Post by Watchman on Jan 18, 2007 16:03:25 GMT -5
Young adults with a strong immune system will be most at risk from a bird flu pandemic, research suggests.
The recent H5N1 virus causes the victims' immune system to go into overdrive, filling their lungs with fluid and blood.
Lead researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin said: "Essentially people are drowned by themselves."
However their work suggests anti-inflammatory drugs that dampen down the immune system may provide a way to fight any future outbreak.
The study, reported in the journal Nature, used a recreated version of the 1918 "Spanish" flu virus, which killed 50 million people - mostly young adults - to make its findings.
Scientists in Canada and the U.S. gave the virus to macaque monkeys to see how they would react to it.
Others were given one of the normal types of flu that exist currently.
The study revealed that the 1918 virus - which was caused by a strain of bird flu that mixed with a human type - caused an out- of- control immune response.
Dr Jim Robertson, of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, said: "The information that has been derived from this experiment is exciting and represents an important milestone in understanding the severity of these highly pathogenic types of influenza viruses."
Dr Ronald Cutler, Principal Lecturer in Infectious Diseases and Pathology at the University of East London, said: "This work contributes to our understanding of how pandemic influenza can be lethal to those with an effective immune system, because it can dangerously over stimulate that system."
"Knowing how that over stimulation takes place could lead to the development of new methods to treat these diseases so we are better prepared for any future pandemic."
The recent H5N1 virus causes the victims' immune system to go into overdrive, filling their lungs with fluid and blood.
Lead researcher Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin said: "Essentially people are drowned by themselves."
However their work suggests anti-inflammatory drugs that dampen down the immune system may provide a way to fight any future outbreak.
The study, reported in the journal Nature, used a recreated version of the 1918 "Spanish" flu virus, which killed 50 million people - mostly young adults - to make its findings.
Scientists in Canada and the U.S. gave the virus to macaque monkeys to see how they would react to it.
Others were given one of the normal types of flu that exist currently.
The study revealed that the 1918 virus - which was caused by a strain of bird flu that mixed with a human type - caused an out- of- control immune response.
Dr Jim Robertson, of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, said: "The information that has been derived from this experiment is exciting and represents an important milestone in understanding the severity of these highly pathogenic types of influenza viruses."
Dr Ronald Cutler, Principal Lecturer in Infectious Diseases and Pathology at the University of East London, said: "This work contributes to our understanding of how pandemic influenza can be lethal to those with an effective immune system, because it can dangerously over stimulate that system."
"Knowing how that over stimulation takes place could lead to the development of new methods to treat these diseases so we are better prepared for any future pandemic."