Immune exhaustion driven by antigen in chronic viral infection
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - 15:35
in Health & Medicine
A main reason why viruses such as HIV or hepatitis C persist despite a vigorous initial immune response is exhaustion. The T cells, or white blood cells, fighting a chronic infection eventually wear out. Researchers at Emory Vaccine Center have demonstrated that exhaustion is driven by how the immune system detects infecting viruses.