The News
Bird-flu survivors' blood halts virus in mouse tests
By Lauran Neergaard The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 05/28/2007 10:56:23 PM MDT
Washington - Blood donated by four survivors of bird flu seems to harbor a potent protection against the deadly virus.
Scientists have long suspected that culling immune-system molecules from survivors could provide a new therapy for the hard-to-treat H5N1 flu strain. Monday, an international team of researchers reported the first evidence, albeit from tests in mice, that it really may work.
If the research pans out, it could be possible to stockpile these antibodies, the immune system's search-and-destroy force, as an additional way to treat or even prevent H5N1 in case the worrisome flu strain ever mutates to spark a worldwide epidemic.
"Obviously we're interested and excited about this potential," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health.
The research started when four Vietnamese adults who survived bouts of H5N1 in 2004 agreed to donate blood to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Research
Read the research behind this story in the journal PLoS Medicine.