Bats have biological mechanisms that can boost their immune systems to combat viruses, an academic says.
“There are many mechanisms in a bat’s body to fight viruses,” Wu Chung-hsin (吳忠信), a professor at National Taiwan Normal University’s School of Life Science, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. “In the end, [bats] and viruses can coexist peacefully.”
Bats are an “ancient species” that can repair their DNA and regulate their body temperature, Wu said.
Photo: CNA
“When the viral load inside their body is high, they can increase their body temperature,” Wu said.
As a bat’s temperature rises, its immune system becomes stronger.
In a six-week study on 120 four-week-old piglets that Wu led last year, the animals were divided into a control group, a group that was given antibiotics and a group that was given concentrated traditional Chinese herbal medicine, Wu said.
About half of the control group developed pneumonia, and more than one-third died, he said.
The piglets given traditional Chinese medicine grew faster and had better overall health, Wu said.
Some traditional Chinese medicines might have anti-inflammatory effects on the lungs, he added.
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