March 03, 2017
Bulletin interne de l'Institut Pasteur
Why does bronchiolitis only affect infants?
In a study published in the prestigious Immunity journal on February 21, 2017, researchers from the Institut Pasteur in Paris and in Shanghai, Bicêtre Hospital (AP-HP), Paris-Sud University and the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research) reported on the discovery of a new group of B-lymphocyte immune cells, which are only present in infants and form the preferred target of the bronchiolitis virus.
Their research therefore explains why this infection of the lower respiratory tract mainly affects newborns, and all the more severely as they are young. This publication paves the way for new diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities for treating acute infant bronchiolitis.