Scientists from Westlake University in Hangzhou have isolated a unique antibody ZS1C5 from the blood of patients who have been ill, which can completely neutralize the SFTS virus (severe fever with thrombocytopenic syndrome). This disease, first discovered in China in 2009, is transmitted through tick bites and can cause up to 30% mortality, while effective drugs or vaccines against it have not yet existed.
In the course of experiments on mice, a single injection of the ZS1C5 antibody showed absolute effectiveness. She saved animal lives even with lethal doses of the virus. The researchers note that this protein has enormous therapeutic potential and may become the first affordable specific treatment for humans, an alternative to expensive intensive care.
Chinese specialists are not only developing a drug for the treatment of SFTS based on an open antibody, but also considering it as a basis for creating a preventive vaccine. This discovery gives hope for containing a dangerous infection that poses a serious threat to public health in several regions of Asia.
