TWO common killer viruses can join forces to create a hybrid virus capable of dodging the immune system, experts have discovered.
Researchers believe the findings could explain the increase in hard-to-treat viral pneumonia.
Each year over 25,000 Brits die of flu.
While respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) kills around 8,000 people – mainly young children.
Co-infections – when two viruses attack the body at once – are fairly common, accounting for around 10-30 per cent of all respiratory viral infections.
However, until now, experts did not know that viruses could invade the same cell and work together to kill and take over other cells.
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Researchers from the University of Glasgow infected human lung cells with both viruses and found that, instead of the viruses competing with one another, create a ‘hybrid virus’.
“This kind of hybrid virus has never been described before,” said Professor Pablo Murcia, who supervised the research, told The Guardian.
“We are talking about viruses from two completely different families combining together with the genomes and the external proteins of both viruses.
“It is a new type of virus pathogen,” he explained.
The hybrid virus of flu and RSV has the potential to evade immunity, the paper published in Nature Microbiology said..
The new deadly threat was able to infect new cells with flu by masking as RSV virus, evading any natural flu immunity.
Pneumonia refers to a swelling of the tissue in one or both of your lungs.
When you have pneumonia, the alveoli – tiny air sacs where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged – fill with fluid.
It affects around 8 in 1,000 adults a year, and it’s more common in autumn and winter.
While it can severely affect people of any age, it’s more common and can be more serious among the young or elderly.
Bacteria and viruses are behind most cases of pneumonia – but it can also be caused by physical injury, chemicals such as chlorine fumes, or infectious agents such as parasites and fungi.
Last year, a report revealed that 80 people in Britain die from flu and pneumonia each day.
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There’s also what’s known as ‘walking pneumonia’ – so-called because sufferers feel well enough to get up and around.
Unfortunately, this can lead to a delay in diagnosis and ultimately means symptoms can get worse.
