Find a way to completely eliminate the flu

Scientists may have found a way to eliminate the flu, after successfully developing a drug that prevents mice from being affected by the onslaught of influenza viruses that are fatal.

The new drug blocked a molecule called PGE2 and helped lab rats survive a dose of dangerous H1N1 virus. The researchers hope, the drug could also disable PGE2 molecules in the human body.

Despite the widespread use of vaccines and viral suppression measures worldwide, influenza remains a persistent risk to human health.

Flu is still a constant and persistent threat to human health.(Photo: Alamy)

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are 49,000 deaths from flu-related diseases each year. In 2009 alone, 575,000 people died from the H1N1 flu virus. Emerging flu strains continue to threaten to infect humans and cause even more devastating influenza pandemics.

The new discovery published in the journal Immunity paved the way for the emergence of an urgent, highly effective treatment for influenza and possibly other forms of infection.

Dr. Maziar Divangahi of McGill University (Canada), the head of the study, said: "The brand name to attack PGE2's action lines was born and tested in animals. So the results are obtained. There is great potential for clinical application in humans, not only for the treatment of influenza, but also for other viral respiratory infections, which interact with the same immune system ".

Divangahi and his colleagues found that mice genetically engineered to be PGE2-deficient are more resistant to infection than normal and the majority of them survived after being vaccinated with an H1N1 dose that is fatal. Similarly, the mice treated with a blockade of PGE2 also increased their immunity to the virus better and the survival rate was also higher.