“Man flu” not a myth

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Tags: discovery, medical research, summer-2011

UQ research has shown men and women respond to the common cold differently

Researchers from the School of Medicine have made an important discovery about how the immune system reacts to rhinoviruses responsible for the common cold.

The team, led by Professor John Upham, found young women make a stronger immune response to rhinoviruses than young men. These differences disappear after menopause, so are probably regulated by sex hormones.

Professor Upham said the discovery was crucially important for finding new ways of combating rhinoviruses.

“While these viruses are just a nuisance in healthy people, they can make people with asthma or other chronic lung diseases very unwell,” he said.

“In our efforts to find new ways to prevent these infections, we need to take into account the effects of hormones, and how they affect the immune system.”

The researchers are studying how the immune system worked – or didn’t work – in people with asthma, in addition to tracing the effects of hormones on the immune system, with long-term plans for development of a vaccine.

By Jan King

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