Medical scientists from America have managed to find a small family of proteins which fight flu and add to a person's natural resistance to viral infections.

As per researchers from the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, the proteins work by blocking most virus particles from infecting cells in the human body right when the virus's life cycle has begun. A single protein has been found which guards against a number of human viruses like H1N1, other influenza a strains, West Nile virus and dengue virus.

"We've uncovered the first-line defense in how our bodies fight the flu virus. The protein is there to stop the flu. Every cell has a constitutive immune response that is ready for the virus", said Professor Stephen Elledge from the Harvard Medical School.

Led by Dr. Abraham Brass, the study has led researchers to findings that could revolutionize the way a number of common and dangerous viral infections are treated and prevented.

Details of the study have been published in the online edition of Cell, a journal.