Dengue Virus Antibodies Actually Exacerbate the Disease. New Finding
By Linda on Feb 12, 2010 in Infections | comments(0)
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Excerpt: http://www.liai.org/
Finding has major implications for efforts to develop a first-ever vaccine against the dangerous infectious disorder
SAN DIEGO – (February 11, 2010) A leading immunology research institute has validated the long-held and controversial hypothesis that antibodies – usually the “good guys” in the body’s fight against viruses – instead contribute to severe dengue virus-induced disease, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology announced today. The finding has major implications for the development of a first-ever vaccine against dengue virus, a growing public health threat which annually infects 50 to 100 million people worldwide, causing a half million cases of the severest form.
“Our lab has proven the decades old hypothesis that subneutralizing levels of dengue virus antibodies exacerbate the disease,” said La Jolla Institute scientist Sujan Shresta, Ph.D, noting this occurs in people with secondary dengue virus infections who have antibodies to the virus due to a previous infection. “This is a situation where antibodies can be bad for you, which is counter to everything we know about the normal function of antibodies. It also presents a special challenge for researchers working to develop a dengue virus vaccine, since most vaccines work by prompting the body to produce antibodies.”
