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Scientists Report Progress Toward Bird Flu 'Cure'

Joint U.S.-China team decodes structure of vital component

July 16, 2008

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Since 2003 scientists have been looking for a "magic bullet" that could stop a potential bird flu pandemic in its tracks. U.S. and Chinese researchers say they may have found it.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, in conjunction with scientists from China and Singapore, say they have crystallized and characterized the structure of one of the most important protein complexes of the H5N1 virus, the most common strain of bird flu.

The discovery is important, they say, because identifying, and then controlling, the part of the virus that causes it to reproduce, is key to stopping it.

So far the virus has killed mostly birds. However, nearly 400 people in 14 countries have been infected since 2003. The disease is often fatal, and is similar to the flu pandemic that killed millions of people worldwide in 1918.

The results of the study will be reported in an upcoming issue of Nature and can be found online.

The work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China as well as the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research.

Other developments

Earlier this year, a British drug company said it had developed a vaccine that should protect against all strains of the influenza virus responsible for pandemic outbreaks.

Acambis says it has shown encouraging results in its first human trials.

The drug, ACAM-FLU-A, is a recombinant vaccine linked to a Hepatitis B core protein. It targets M2e, a conserved region of all influenza 'A' strains.

Side effects

The FDA, meanwhile, has been concerned about possible dangerous psychiatric side effects of influenza drugs Tamiflu and Relenza. Both drugs are seen as a first line of defense in the event of a bird flu pandemic.

Documents posted on the FDA Web site express concerns about recent studies, which showed nearly 600 cases in which patients who took Tamiflu experienced "neuropsychiatric events" such as delirium, delusions or hallucinations.

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