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The 1918 virus, known as the Spanish influenza, claimed at least 50 million lives worldwide and wiped out 5 percent of the U.S. population. More than 13,000 Tennesseans died from the pandemic, according to the state Department of Health.
But those who survived the 1918 virus still have antibodies to fight it more than 90 years later, researchers at Vanderbilt University have found in initial studies. Now the researchers want to recruit 60 people, ages 93 and older, for a second round of study.
"Very much like mental or cognitive memory for events, people have excellent immune memory for things in their childhood," said Dr. James Crowe, an infectious-disease expert at Vanderbilt. "For something that happened 90 years ago, that seemed impossible."
In his initial research started three years ago, Crowe learned that the virus memory lives in B cells, which are immune system cells that make antibodies.
He took the first samples collected from 32 survivors, ages 91 to 101, and compared them with a lab-created version of the virus responsible for the 1918 bug. The survivors' antibodies attached to and attacked the strain.
Epidemiologists, who study disease trends in populations, have a lot of questions about the 1918 virus, including what made it so deadly and why some people survived. The flu was responsible for more deaths than happened during all of World War I. Many who died were young, healthy adults in the 18- to 34-year-old age group, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The virus itself doesn't seem much more virulent," said Dr. Tim Jones, state epidemiologist. "The issue that made it so destructive was that it was a brand-new strain that our population had never been exposed to."
More research planned
...
But those who survived the 1918 virus still have antibodies to fight it more than 90 years later, researchers at Vanderbilt University have found in initial studies. Now the researchers want to recruit 60 people, ages 93 and older, for a second round of study.
"Very much like mental or cognitive memory for events, people have excellent immune memory for things in their childhood," said Dr. James Crowe, an infectious-disease expert at Vanderbilt. "For something that happened 90 years ago, that seemed impossible."
In his initial research started three years ago, Crowe learned that the virus memory lives in B cells, which are immune system cells that make antibodies.
He took the first samples collected from 32 survivors, ages 91 to 101, and compared them with a lab-created version of the virus responsible for the 1918 bug. The survivors' antibodies attached to and attacked the strain.
Epidemiologists, who study disease trends in populations, have a lot of questions about the 1918 virus, including what made it so deadly and why some people survived. The flu was responsible for more deaths than happened during all of World War I. Many who died were young, healthy adults in the 18- to 34-year-old age group, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The virus itself doesn't seem much more virulent," said Dr. Tim Jones, state epidemiologist. "The issue that made it so destructive was that it was a brand-new strain that our population had never been exposed to."
More research planned
...
