An antibody has been discovered by Chinese scientists in Beijing that will potentially reduce the effects of H7N9 symptoms in monkeys, Xinhua reported on Jan. 20, Tuesday.
The British medical journal was able to publish a study entitled "Clinical Infectious Diseases." This shows that the patients who were diagnosed with the H7N9 virus often die due to grave pneumonia and systemic inflammation caused by acute lung infection (ALI).
The large contribution to the increasing death rate caused by H7N9 is due to lack of significant treatment options.
Chosen African green monkeys were used as subject for the health experiment. First, they were injected with the H7N9 virus. Eventually, they were intravenously treated with the use of an antibody. According to the results of the said study, the treatment was successful through the reduction of ALI and systemic inflammation.
Thus, the outcomes showed relevant and positive effects on the development for treating the virus affecting the human race.
Sun Shihui from the Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology together with Zhao Guangyu from the Academy of Military Medical Science led the significant research.
In March 2013, the H7N9 avian flu had killed three people in China. The virus is thought to have emerged during the winter and spring seasons.
The research said that "complement inhibition may be a promising adjunctive therapy for severe viral pneumonia."
Avian influenza, which originated from birds in the past, was found to be infecting China since March 2013, the World Health Organization reported. It was derived and considered as a subtype of influenza viruses diagnosed in people and animals.
Subsequently, infections were found in both humans and animals. Reports of the said disease were detected mostly in places near poultry farms. Transmission of the virus does not show to transmit very easily directly from one person to another. There were no reports of direct human-to-human diffusion.