Nipah virus does not just infect the body, it disrupts immune defences at multiple levels, suppressing early antiviral responses and triggering harmful inflammation.
- Written by:Shreya Goswami
Nipah virus is among the deadliest zoonotic infections known to humans, with fatality rates ranging from 40 to 75 per cent in reported outbreaks. What makes the virus especially dangerous is not just its ability to infect vital organs like the brain and lungs, but the way it manipulates the body’s immune system, preventing an effective defence while simultaneously triggering damaging inflammation. Unlike many viral infections where a strong immune response leads to recovery, Nipah virus creates a paradox. The immune system responds aggressively, yet inefficiently. As a result, patients often deteriorate rapidly, even when they are young and previously healthy.
According to Dr. Dip Narayan Mukherjee, Consultant – Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at CK Birla Hospitals, CMRI, Nipah virus is particularly lethal because it outpaces, suppresses and misdirects immune responses, leaving the body unable to clear the infection in time. Understanding this immune disruption is critical to explaining why Nipah causes severe encephalitis, multi-organ failure and high mortality, and why early detection and containment remain the most effective tools against it.
How Nipah Virus Disarms The Body’s First Line Of Defence
The immune system’s earliest response to viral infection comes from the innate immune system, which relies heavily on interferons, signalling proteins that warn neighbouring cells and activate antiviral mechanisms.
“The Nipah virus is particularly dangerous because it does not merely infect the body, it actively disrupts and overwhelms the immune system, making it difficult for the body to mount an effective defence,” explains Dr. Mukherjee.
“One of the earliest ways Nipah evades immunity is by interfering with the body’s innate immune response,” he adds. “Nipah virus suppresses this interferon response, allowing the virus to multiply rapidly before the immune system can react adequately.”
Studies published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and virology research institutions show that Nipah virus proteins block interferon signalling pathways, giving the virus a critical head start before immune defences are fully activated.