Does Human Influenza Virus NA-Specific Antibody Cross-React with Avian Influenza Virus NA?
Matthew Sandbulte and colleagues’ new findings presented in PLoS Medicine provide a tantalizing suggestion that immunity to the human influenza virus N1 NA (huN1 NA) cross-reacts with the avian N1 NA (avN1 NA), and that this cross-reactivity may be sufficient to protect against infection with avian influenza virus H5N1 [8]. H1N1 influenza viruses have been circulating in the human population since 1977, and much of the population has encountered these viruses repeatedly, either through natural infection or vaccination. If huN1 NA antibodies can provide humans with cross-protection against avian influenza virus H5N1 illness, introduction of this virus into the human population may cause less devastating morbidity and mortality than has been predicted [9]. Sandbulte and colleagues vaccinated mice with two doses of DNA encoding the NA protein of A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1), one of the viruses in the currently recommended trivalent seasonal human influenza virus vaccine. Antibodies to the
Related Questions
- If a bird is suspected or confirmed to have highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus infection, is the staff that handled the bird at risk?
- What testing is available for highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus infection, and how reliable is it?
- Does Human Influenza Virus NA-Specific Antibody Cross-React with Avian Influenza Virus NA?
