Immune rabies virus thanks to vampire bat

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the Amazon vampire bat could resist rabies virus that kills more than 55,000 people worldwide. each year.

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Rabies is a neurological disease transmitted from animals to people through saliva through bites or scratches. If not treated immediately, rabies can cause 100% of deaths.

Researchers found that six out of 92 people from two Peruvian communities living in remote areas of the Amazon forest had antibodies against rabies but they had never been vaccinated. Meanwhile, these two communities live close to vampire bat populations. Normally this bat can completely cause bites and transmit the virus causing rabies.

Vampire bat protecting people in Amazon from rabies?

In response to the above problem, the researchers analyzed the habits and lifestyles of the Peruvian people here. They know very little about rabies and there is almost no method available to cure the disease. These people also do not have rabies virus genes. The team thinks that vampire bats most likely due to regular contact have formed an immune response to rabies virus. People have lower immunity to rabies virus than vampire bat.

The results of this study open up the idea of ​​developing some types of natural disease resistance or immune response in some communities often exposed to rabies. That makes sense in finding effective treatments to save lives in places with high mortality rates from rabies, researcher Amy Gilbert said.

Despite the detection of rabies immune antibodies in such people, scientists recommend that anyone with rabies should have medical care and advice to be safer.

The study was published online in the Journal of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene , issued on 1 August 2012.

Reference: Livescience