Researchers have discovered a possible way to prevent the flu without using the virus itself or interferon, according to News-Medical.
Here are five facts:
1. The finding indicates that manipulating a natural process may potentially be another way to not only reduce the severity of the flu, but prevent the infection.
2. The findings could lead to a more fundamental process for combating the flu that would not be specific to any particular strain of the flu.
3. Researchers have been utilizing experimental drugs to test this flu prevention treatment in mice. The possibility that it can be used in humans is years away, but the long-term goal is to devise a vaccine-independent method to prevent flu infections.
4. The methods researchers are developing entails raising the level of protein that is known to be effective against all strains of the flu ever tested.
5. The key to prevent infection is to raise the protein's level in the cells before the virus enters the body.
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