Researchers from Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin were able to positively influence the immune response in severe viral and bacterial co-infection. Using a human lung tissue model, they were able to show that the immune mechanisms triggered by viral pathogens prevent the tissue from mounting an effective response against a simultaneously occurring bacterial infection.
The researchers successfully tested a new drug-based treatment aimed at correcting this misguided immune response (which occurs, for instance, in cases of pneumonia). Results from this study have been published in the European Respiratory Journal.
