From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-395643-993454
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.