Three-in-one virus killer prevents common, often fatal infections

This article immediately caught my attention because I fought CMV (cytomegalovirus) for almost a year following my lung transplant. Although these trials are in the early stages they offer some hope for the future.

HOUSTON -- (October 26, 2006) -- A novel combination therapy drastically reduces the infection rate of three viruses – and risk of death – in transplant patients with compromised immune systems. The findings, to be reported in the Nov. 1 print edition of Nature Medicine, originate from a study conducted at Baylor College of Medicine, The Methodist Hospital, and Texas Children’s Hospital.

The journal has posted the findings online.

The phase 1 trial, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health, tested the first multivirus killer of its kind, called Trivirus - specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), which control infections caused by three commonplace viruses – cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and adenovirus. Although benign in people with normal immune systems, the viruses can cause life-threatening illnesses in transplant patients and others with compromised immune systems...read the full news release.