Health & Fitness - 1918 flu pandemic survivors still immune

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1918 flu pandemic survivors still immune

NEW YORK (UPI) -- Survivors of the 1918 influenza virus that killed some 50 million people retained their immunity for the rest of their lives, U.S. researchers said.

Contributing author Dr. Christopher Basler of Mount Sinai School of Medicine said antibodies produced by cells isolated from the survivors served as an effective therapy to protect mice from the highly lethal 1918 infection.

The study, published online ahead of print in the journal Nature, said the antibodies from those who survived the 1918 pandemic demonstrated remarkable power to block 1918 flu virus infection in mice, proving that, even nine decades after infection with this virus, survivors remain protected.

"Ninety years after survivors encountered the 1918 pandemic influenza virus, we collected antibody-producing B cells from them, and successfully isolated B cells that produce antibodies that block the viral infection," Basler said in a statement.

Thirty-two people born before 1918 who lived through the influenza pandemic donated blood, which was tested by Basler's lab for the presence of antibodies that recognize the 1918 virus.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International