1918 Killer Flu Tested on Monkeys
Washington Post
By SETH BORENSTEIN
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 17, 2007; 11:06 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/17/AR2007011702395.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/17/AR2007011702395_2.html -------------------------------------------------------
The new work "gives us another tool," said Anthony Fauci,
director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Disease, who was not part of the research.
Fauci praised the study and said what it found in the effects
on the body are stunning: "There aren't a lot of things that
can induce that robust of an inflammatory response that
quickly."
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Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, a Mount Sinai microbiology professor
who conducted some of the earlier mouse work, cautioned
that it may be a mistake to focus so heavily on immune
system response.The 1918 flu "induces an overwhelming
and probably damaging immune response system"but it is l
argely because the virus grows so much, he said.
In mice, when the overactive immune response was eliminated,
mice died because of high viral levels.
"It's like a vicious circle, you get more viruses, you get more
immune response and this results in damage,"Garcia-Sastre said.