Health · Medical Research · 4 hrs ago
Past roundworm infection protected mice from severe flu damage
Researchers at Radboudumc and NYU studied roundworm infection in mice to see how it affected a later bout of severe flu.
Weeks after some mice had been infected with a roundworm, all the animals were given a dangerous H1N1 virus.
Every previously infected mouse survived, while the others died.
The amount of virus was similar in both groups, so the difference was not faster virus removal.
The earlier infection changed lung immune cells called macrophages, which made the body's response less aggressive.
That reduced inflammation and damage to lung tissue, helping the mice breathe and recover.
The researchers also produced the protective effect with two purified signalling molecules, without infecting mice with worms.
Whether the same protection works in people remains to be tested, although researchers found similar macrophages in human lungs; they say the approach could potentially help against different viruses in future pandemics.
Mice previously infected with a parasitic roundworm were protected from severe damage caused by a dangerous H1N1 flu infection.
All mice with a past worm infection survived, while mice without one died.
The virus levels were similar in both groups, suggesting the protection came from a less damaging immune response rather than faster virus clearance.
Researchers linked the effect to specialized macrophages that retained a response to the earlier infection.
The researchers also produced the protective effect using two purified signaling molecules, without infecting mice with worms.
Whether the same protection works in people remains unknown.
- Who
- Researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Radboudumc studied mice.
- What
- A previous roundworm infection protected mice from severe damage during a dangerous H1N1 flu infection.
- When
- The findings were reported on November 3, 2026. The timing of the experiments is not stated.
- Where
- The research involved institutions in New York and Nijmegen. The location of the mouse experiments is not stated.
- Why
- The earlier infection affected specialized macrophages, leading to a less aggressive immune response and less lung damage.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Researchers gave all mice a dangerous variant of the H1N1 flu virus.
All mice previously infected with roundworms survived, while the mice without a previous worm infection died.
The findings were reported in articles about the research.
- Study groups
- Mice with and without a prior parasitic roundworm infection
- Time between infections
- A few weeks
- Flu virus
- H1N1
- Survival
- All previously infected mice survived; mice without a previous worm infection died
- Institutions
- NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Radboudumc
- Publication
- Nature
3 sources
What people are saying
Deze cellen slaan een eerdere ervaring met een worm op in een soort geheugen, en zorgen vervolgens voor een tolerante afweer bij een volgende infectie