Older adults might be more resistant to bird flu infections than children
New research from Penn Medicine finds that previous exposures to older flu strains prime the immune system to produce antibodies against H5N1, and children would likely benefit the most from H5N1 vaccinations.
Prior exposures to specific types of seasonal influenza viruses promote cross-reactive immunity against the H5N1 avian influenza virus, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine. Older adults who were exposed to seasonal flu viruses that circulated prior to 1968 were found to be more likely to have antibodies that bound to the H5N1 avian flu virus. The findings, published in Nature Medicine, suggest that younger adults and children would benefit more from H5N1 vaccines, even those not tailored specifically to the current strain circulating in birds and cattle.
“We know that early childhood influenza exposures can elicit immune responses that last a lifetime,” says senior author Scott Hensley, a professor of microbiology. “We found that antibody responses that were primed by H1N1 and H3N2 viruses decades ago can cross-react to H5N1 avian viruses circulating today. Most of these cross-reactive antibodies cannot prevent infections, but they will likely limit disease if we have an H5N1 pandemic.”
H5N1 viruses have circulated in birds for many years, but a new version, called clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 virus emerged more recently, and has since spread among cattle. This current H5N1 strain does not bind well to receptors in the human upper airway, but widespread circulation in mammals could lead to mutations that help the virus infect human airway cells and increase transmission. If this occurs, H5N1 could potentially start spreading from human to human.
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