Here’s a bit of good news on Avian Influenza. Researchers at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, have isolated antibodies from the cells of human survivors of H5N1 influenza (bird flu). These antibodies were found to be protective against the virus in mice, though they have not yet been tested in humans.
The article is available in PLOS Medicine, an open access journal published by the Public Library of Science.
In the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, blood (actually, plasma, which is the portion of the blood that contains antibodies) from survivors was administered to newly infected patients and cut the death rate in half.
Now the method is more sophisticated. Instead of transfusing plasma, we can isolate the antibody that is effective, produce it in cell culture, and administer it in purified form. This is called a monoclonal antibody, and that’s what the mice in the Vietnamese study received.
This is much safer than a plasma transfusion. Also, monoclonal antibodies can be mass produced.
For those who have not been following the Bird Flu topic – H5N1 is a new strain of influenza that is spreading among birds, and to a limited extent from birds to humans. The human population has no immunity to this strain, so it has the potential to cause a worldwide epidemic (a pandemic) with fairly high mortality.
At present, bird flu cannot cause a pandemic because it is not yet transmitted from person to person. Based on the history of other flu viruses, however, this is expected to happen eventually. Scientists are watching bird flu very closely for any signs of mutation to a more transmissible form.
If bird flu does mutate and cause a pandemic, monoclonal antibodies may be a form of early, lifesaving treatment for those infected.
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