October 19th, 2017 by WCBC Radio
Modern medicine doesn’t offer much to counter the misery brought on by the flu, but researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine say they are on to something promising. The Baltimore Sun reports it’s a protein that not only may ease symptoms of influenza and save lives but protect against other nasty infections. “Every year, thousands of people across the country die from the flu or its complications, despite widespread use of annual influenza vaccines,” said Daniel J. Prantner, a Maryland scientist and lead author of a study about the protein retrocyclin-101. “We think that this protein could lead to medicines that could be a powerful tool in the battle against this disease, and against inflammation in general.” Prantner showed that retrocyclin could prevent immune cells from becoming infected with the flu virus and stop the excessive inflammation responsible for such symptoms as fever, pain, lethargy and troubled breathing.
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