Article: Interleukin-4 gene strongly affects respiratory syncytial virus disease severity.

2002 NOV 11 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United States and South Korea have identified a risk factor for abnormally dangerous respiratory syncytial virus infections.

"Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major health problem in young children, and host response to severe disease favors a Th2 immune response," according to Eun Hwa Choi and colleagues at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland and Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea.

The gene coding for the Th2 cytokine interleukin (IL)-4 has a significant impact on RSV infection severity, Choi and coauthors found.

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