Trapping White Blood Cells Proves Novel Strategy Against Chronic Viral Infections, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory University Study

ScienceDaily (Aug. 14, 2008) — Seeing disease-fighting white blood cells vanish from the blood usually signals a weakened immune system. But preventing white blood cells' circulation by trapping them in the lymph nodes can help mice get rid of a chronic viral infection, researchers at Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Emory Vaccine Center have found. Their findings, recently published in the journal Nature, suggest a new strategy for fighting chronic viral infections that could apply to the treatment of human diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS.