Nose's flu fighters have long memories

摘要

After an influenza infection, the nose recruits immune cells with long memories to keep watch for the virus, research in mice suggests. For the first time, this type of immune cell - known as tissue resident memory T cells - has been found in the nose, researchers report June 2 in Science Immunology. The presence of these cells may prevent flu from recurring. Future nasal spray vaccines that boost the number of these T cells in the nose might be an improvement over current flu shots, researchers say.