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Feb. 6, 2014 (Thu.)
NAGOYA -- An antibody against the highly toxic H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in a man from Aichi Prefecture, a university research group has discovered.
A group of scientists at the Toyoake city-based Fujita Health University discovered that an antibody against the H5N1 bird flu strain, an influenza virus that has never been detected in humans in Japan, was identified in a man in his 60s. It was previously believed that nobody in Japan had developed an antibody against the H5N1 virus. The group published its study in the American online science magazine Plos One on Feb. 6.
University president and member of the group Yoshikazu Kurosawa explained that the Aichi man possibly developed an ability to create the H5N1 antibody naturally in the course of flu infections he experienced. Kurosawa said scientists should conduct further research on the development of the antibody as a countermeasure against the influenza pandemic, noting that it is highly possible that there are many others who also have developed the antibody.
Kurosawa and his group vaccinated the man for the H1N1 influenza, which caused an epidemic in 2009, and tested his blood sample a month later. They then found an antibody in his blood different from one that affects the H1N1 virus. The antibody, identified as VH1-69, blocks several types of influenza infections, including the H1N1 and H5N1. According to the scientists, cells that had experienced flu infections in the past had developed VH1-69.
The Aichi man had suffered from influenza several times until the age of 21, but had not been vaccinated for the flu or shown flu symptoms since then.
NAGOYA -- An antibody against the highly toxic H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in a man from Aichi Prefecture, a university research group has discovered.
A group of scientists at the Toyoake city-based Fujita Health University discovered that an antibody against the H5N1 bird flu strain, an influenza virus that has never been detected in humans in Japan, was identified in a man in his 60s. It was previously believed that nobody in Japan had developed an antibody against the H5N1 virus. The group published its study in the American online science magazine Plos One on Feb. 6.
University president and member of the group Yoshikazu Kurosawa explained that the Aichi man possibly developed an ability to create the H5N1 antibody naturally in the course of flu infections he experienced. Kurosawa said scientists should conduct further research on the development of the antibody as a countermeasure against the influenza pandemic, noting that it is highly possible that there are many others who also have developed the antibody.
Kurosawa and his group vaccinated the man for the H1N1 influenza, which caused an epidemic in 2009, and tested his blood sample a month later. They then found an antibody in his blood different from one that affects the H1N1 virus. The antibody, identified as VH1-69, blocks several types of influenza infections, including the H1N1 and H5N1. According to the scientists, cells that had experienced flu infections in the past had developed VH1-69.
The Aichi man had suffered from influenza several times until the age of 21, but had not been vaccinated for the flu or shown flu symptoms since then.
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