Oestrogen ‘can protect against flu infections’

A new study has demonstrated the potential protective effects that oestrogen can provide against the influenza A virus.

The Johns Hopkins University research gathered nasal cells – the type that the flu virus primarily infects – from male and female donors, before exposing the cell cultures to the virus, as well as oestrogen and compounds with similar effects to the hormone.

It was found that oestrogen was able to reduce flu virus replication in nasal cells from women, but not men, while it was also revealed that the oestrogen receptor beta was responsible for the antiviral effects of the hormone.

These findings may help explain why the flu often hits men harder than women, particularly premenopausal women using certain kinds of birth control or postmenopausal women on hormone replacement.

Lead study author Dr Sabra Klein, of Johns Hopkins University, said: "We see clinical potential in the finding that therapeutic oestrogens that are used for treating infertility and menopause may also protect against the flu."

Public Health England confirmed earlier this month that the flu virus is now circulating in the community, underlining the importance of taking protective measures.