Human antibody for dengue virus isolated A TEM micrograph
showing Dengue virus virions (the cluster of dark dots near the
center). Image: CDC (Phys.org) -- A group of scientists in
Singapore and the UK have isolated a human antibody capable of
effectively neutralizing the mosquito-borne dengue virus. Dengue
fever is currently incurable and infects an estimated 100,000
people a year, mostly in the tropics. The only treatment is
alleviating the symptoms, which can include intense joint and
muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, high fever, and death in severe
cases. Dengue virus (DENV) has four strains or serotypes (1 to
4), and a person infected by one serotype produces antibodies
that make them immune for life to infection from that serotype,
but that usually only give limited or transient immunity to the
other three. The newly isolated antibody is extremely effective
for serotype 1. The researchers isolated the human antibody,
HM14c10, which was formed in the body of a patient in Singapore
who had recovered from a D