eFM News

[Anchor]

A team at the U.S. National Institutes of Health has discovered a trick used by viruses to make us sick.

The researchers say the findings rewrite the textbooks of infection.

Luke Cleary reports in today's Health & Wellness report.

[Reporter]

Scientists had long thought that viruses were all lone wolves, each on a solo campaign of infection.

But the discovery of so-called "stealth spheres" puts that theory to rest.

It's been found that viruses can form "packs" of up to 40 and surround themselves with a fatty sphere that makes them invisible to our body's defenses.

The team at the U.S. National Institutes of Health analyzed stool samples from patients with either rotavirus or norovirus.

Researcher Dr. Nihal Altan-Bonnet said that what they found blew his mind.

His team discovered that the spheres gave the viruses huge advantages.

They acted like an invisibility cloak that prevents the immune system from spotting the viruses.

They protected the viruses from harsh environments, including stomach acid.

And they helped viruses reach their target in larger numbers and overwhelm cells in the intestines.

There are no drug treatments for either norovirus or rotavirus so the researchers hope targeting the spheres, also known as vesicles, will lead to new options.

That could be a type of handwash that breaks down the spheres or drugs that stop them from forming in the first place.

Dr. Altan-Bonnet says the need for better ways of tackling diseases like norovirus should not be underestimated, as even healthy people who get infected can end up getting very sick.

Luke Cleary, eFM News.■