St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists, in collaboration with the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) Limited, found that immune cells present in people months before influenza (flu) infection could more accurately predict if an individual would develop symptoms than current methods which primarily rely on antibody levels.
The study found certain immune cells were associated with increased protection, while other immune cells were associated with increased susceptibility to developing symptoms after catching the virus. The findings have implications for new approaches to public health and were published today in Nature Immunology.
We’ve been struggling for decades, if not centuries, with why some people get sick with infections and some don’t. This is one of the best attempts to try and figure that out for influenza. We were able to measure many different immune parameters from a single blood draw and correlate them with protection from, or susceptibility to, infection symptoms.”
Richard Webby, PhD, Study Co-Corresponding Author, St. Jude Department of Host-Microbe Interaction
Functional diversity improves anti-influenza immune performance
The researchers found that having a more functionally diverse set of immune cells was correlated with increased protection from flu symptoms. The group identified these cells by comparing the immune cells present in the blood of patients who had symptoms from flu infection to those who were asymptomatic or uninfected.
The blood