PARIS, April 1 — Yellow fever is a disease caused by a virus transmitted by certain mosquitoes to humans.
While there is a vaccine to prevent the disease, there is currently no treatment to cure it.
To remedy this, American researchers are working on a potential cure based on lab-made antibodies.
Each year, the yellow fever virus infects 200,000 people worldwide and kills approximately 30,000.
Despite the existence of a vaccine since the 1930s, yellow fever remains endemic in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and South America, where vaccination coverage is low.
With climate change, yellow fever is likely to become more common, as global warming is expected to expand hot, humid areas, which are conducive to the mosquitoes that spread the virus.
It is estimated that yellow fever-related deaths in Africa will increase by 25 per cent by 2050.
Research from Oregon Health & Science University (USA), in collaboration with George Washington University, is focusing on developing a treatment that could potentially cure people infected with the yellow fever virus.
Published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the findings suggest that a single monoclonal antibody infusion could strengthen the body in its fight against the disease.
The team began by examining 37 antibodies cloned from people vaccinated against yellow fever.
They eventually focused on two monoclonal antibodies that could control variants of the virus involved in recent yellow fever outbreaks.
The scientists then tested the effectiveness of these antibodies in two animal species, the rhesus macaque and the hamster.
After exposing the animals to the virus, the researchers divided them into three groups.
One group received the first antibody, another received the second antibody, and the last group received no antibody treatment.
The animals that received either antibody had no trace of the virus in their blood, unlike the control group that developed the disease.
None of the cured animals showed liver dysfunction, a sign that the virus was present in the body.
“By showing such efficacy in a primate model that mimics severe human disease, we hope to advance this to clinical trials and be ready to deploy treatments for the next outbreak of yellow fever,” said the study’s first author, Michael Ricciardi, PhD, associate director of translational research at George Washington University, quoted in a news release.
These initial findings must now be confirmed in humans through a future clinical trial.
However, for the moment, these lab-made antibodies appear to represent a serious possibility for a future treatment for yellow fever, whether for unvaccinated people who get sick or for the very small minority of people who experience a reaction to the vaccine. — ETX Studio
