Scientists found that immune cells present in individuals long before influenza infection predict whether the illness is symptomatic.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists, in collaboration with the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited, found that immune cells present in people months before influenza infection could more accurately predict if an individual would develop symptoms than current methods which primarily rely on antibody levels.
"Our results show that the balance of different immune cells in people can be extremely biased," said senior and co-corresponding author Paul Thomas, Ph.D., St. Jude Department of Immunology."You might build up an immune cell army that is exceptional at fighting off one kind of infection, but then that can make you feel sicker from another kind of infection.
Indeed, this study showed that those vaccinated for the flu generally had increased protective anti-flu immune cells, improving their chance of avoiding symptoms. Those rarer individuals who were unvaccinated and avoided symptoms seemed to have a set of immune cells that mimicked the functions of the protective cells in the vaccinated population.
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