A 3D reconstruction of a mouse lung four days after infection with fluorescent Sendai virus reveals widespread virus presence (red) and active replication (green). A study by researchers at WashU Medicine shows that respiratory viruses can hide out in immune cells in the lungs long after the initial symptoms of an infection have resolved, creating a persistently inflammatory environment that promotes the development of chronic lung diseases such as asthma. Doctors have long known that children who become seriously ill with certain respiratory viruses such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are at elevated risk of developing asthma later in life.
What they haven't known is why. A new study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may have solved the mystery.
The study, in mice, shows that respiratory viruses can hide out in immune cells in the lungs long after the initial symptoms of an infection have resolved, creating a persistently inflammatory environment that promotes the development of lung disease. Further, they showed that eliminating the infected cells reduces signs of chronic lung damage before they progress to a full-blown chronic respiratory illness. The findings, published Oct.
2 in Nature Microbiology, point to a potential new approach to preventing asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other chronic lung diseases by eradicating the persistent respiratory viruses that fuel these conditions. "Right now, children .