Singapore: Researchers from the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore have developed a new antibody that has shown to boost the survival chances of patients suffering from flu and pneumonia. The team said that the new antibody is also used to develop a diagnostic kit that can assess recovery in flu patients.

This new antibody was developed by NTU's Associate Professor Mr Andrew Tan. The antibody has shown to be effective in lab tests and now is being designed to be used in humans, said the team.

"While it will take up to eight years to develop the antibody into a usable treatment for human patients, we are currently developing a diagnostic kit which should be commercialized in about three years," Mr Tan added.

He further mentioned that the kit will help doctors diagnose the severity of pneumonia and the efficacy of the prescribed treatment. This is done by detecting the concentration of a particular protein called ANGPTL4, which is present in samples taken from patients suffering from upper respiratory tract infections.

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. This new finding gives hope for the development of effective dengue treatments, researchers said.

Over the last 50 years, the incidence of dengue virus has increased by 30 times worldwide. The virus causes fever, rashes and joint pain and in severe cases, bleeding and shock.