January 15, 2007

research on immune response to recreated 1918 Spanish flu virus

The study, published in Nature, found that the virus caused dangerous over-stimulation of the immune system.

Dr Jim Robertson, Principal Scientist, Influenza Group, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC), said:

“Many influenza virologists remain nervous about creating and experimenting with a reconstructed 1918 Spanish flu virus, an extremely dangerous virus which disappeared from the world long ago; however, it cannot be denied that 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 University of East London, said:

“Understanding the true nature of a disease is a major step in developing an effective cure. 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.

“In the recent pandemic, avian flu (H5N1) could also over stimulate the host immune system. This led to patient’s lungs filling with blood and death. Treating that over stimulation was one of the methods used to treat that disease.

“It seems that the 1918 pandemic influenza, (H1N1) also has the capability to over stimulate the immune response. 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.”

Dr Simon Festing, Executive Director of RDS, said:

“A pandemic like the 1918 flu outbreak that infected a third of the world and killed 40 million is the stuff of nightmares. Increasing our understanding of flu virulence using monkeys may be crucial to prevent similar death tolls in future.”