Further detection of new EMC virus causes pneumonia

Research by European scientists indicates that a virus that has recently damaged the newly discovered human lung is able to penetrate lung cells and cause disease as easily as a regular flu virus. This proves that the new virus is quite adaptable to become a human pathogen.

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Scientists have tested and compared this new EMC virus with the virus that causes acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and 229E virus causing human influenza. All three viruses belong to the family of crowns (viruscorona).

The results showed that lung cells are vulnerable to EMC virus attack like the other two viruses, and in fact, EMC virus is also growing faster than SARS virus.

EMC virus was first discovered in June 2012, when an Saudi man died of an unidentified respiratory infection. Subsequently, cases of infection appear sporadically with single cases and groups of people.

Tests of saved samples found two people died in a mysterious respiratory disease in Jordan last August infected with EMC.

All EMC cases are linked to the Middle East, in which Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Qatar are among those with increased infections.

However, in the past week, the UK has also announced that the two citizens of the country have not recently left the country infected with EMC, possibly by communicating with a family member carrying the disease after arriving in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

So far, 12 cases have been identified as infected with EMC, five of them died while the rest were in critical condition.

Currently, the origin and level of risk of EMC for humans has not been determined. However, scientists believe that the new virus can easily penetrate into the human lungs, but does not mean that it can spread widely among people.

The results also show that all three crowns of the crowns are passed through the immune system, because they do not cause many reactions to the natural immune system, the first defense barrier of the human body.

However, scientists found that when treated with interferon (signaling proteins produced by body cells to warn surrounding cells about the appearance of the "attacker" ), the amount EMC infected lung cells have decreased significantly.

This opens up the possibility of using interferon, currently used to treat some viral diseases, in the treatment of EMC infection.

The study was conducted by Thiel, a scientist at the Institute of Immunology at Kantonal Hospital in St. Louis. Gallen, Switzerland heads with German and Dutch colleagues. The study was published on February 20 in the American Journal of Microbiology 'mBio' magazine.