Severe pandemic H1N1 2009 infection is associated with transient NK and T deficiency and aberrant CD8 responses.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It is unclear why the severity of influenza varies in healthy adults or why the burden of severe influenza shifts to young adults when pandemic strains emerge. One possibility is that cross-protective T cell responses wane in this age group in the absence of recent infection. We therefore compared the acute cellular immune response in previously healthy adults with severe versus mild pandemic H1N1 infection.

Methods and principal findings

49 previously healthy adults admitted to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, Viet Nam with RT-PCR-confirmed 2009 H1N1 infection were prospectively enrolled. 39 recovered quickly whereas 10 developed severe symptoms requiring supplemental oxygen and prolonged hospitalization. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subset counts and a

SUBMITTER: Fox A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3282732 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature