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| Universal flu vaccine could counter future pandemic | Universal flu vaccine could counter future pandemic |
| (3 months later) | |
| Scientists say they have made a breakthrough designing a vaccine against all 20 known types of flu. | Scientists say they have made a breakthrough designing a vaccine against all 20 known types of flu. |
| It uses the same messenger-ribonucleic-acid (mRNA) technology as successful Covid vaccines. | It uses the same messenger-ribonucleic-acid (mRNA) technology as successful Covid vaccines. |
| Flu mutates and the current annual jab is updated to ensure the best match for the sort circulating but would probably not protect against new pandemic types. | Flu mutates and the current annual jab is updated to ensure the best match for the sort circulating but would probably not protect against new pandemic types. |
| The new vaccine triggered high levels of antibodies, in tests on ferrets and mice, that could fight a broad range. | The new vaccine triggered high levels of antibodies, in tests on ferrets and mice, that could fight a broad range. |
| The antigens it contains - safe copies of recognisable bits of all 20 known subtypes of influenza A and B viruses - can teach the immune system how to fight them and, hopefully, any new strain that could spark a pandemic, the researchers say, in the journal Science. | The antigens it contains - safe copies of recognisable bits of all 20 known subtypes of influenza A and B viruses - can teach the immune system how to fight them and, hopefully, any new strain that could spark a pandemic, the researchers say, in the journal Science. |
| "The idea here is to have a vaccine that will give people a baseline level of immune memory to diverse flu strains," Dr Scott Hensley, one of the scientists behind the work, at the University of Pennsylvania, said. | "The idea here is to have a vaccine that will give people a baseline level of immune memory to diverse flu strains," Dr Scott Hensley, one of the scientists behind the work, at the University of Pennsylvania, said. |
| "There will be far less disease and death when the next flu pandemic occurs." | "There will be far less disease and death when the next flu pandemic occurs." |
| 'Very promising' | 'Very promising' |
| The 2009 swine flu pandemic - caused by a virus that jumped species to infect humans - was less serious than initially feared. | The 2009 swine flu pandemic - caused by a virus that jumped species to infect humans - was less serious than initially feared. |
| But the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic is thought to have killed tens of millions of people. | But the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic is thought to have killed tens of millions of people. |
| Director of the Institute for Global Health and Emerging Pathogens at Mount Sinai Hospital, in New York, Adolfo García-Sastre, said: "Current influenza vaccines do not protect against influenza viruses with pandemic potential. | Director of the Institute for Global Health and Emerging Pathogens at Mount Sinai Hospital, in New York, Adolfo García-Sastre, said: "Current influenza vaccines do not protect against influenza viruses with pandemic potential. |
| "This vaccine, if it works well in people, would achieve this. | "This vaccine, if it works well in people, would achieve this. |
| "The studies are preclinical, in experimental models. | "The studies are preclinical, in experimental models. |
| "They are very promising and, although they suggest a protective capacity against all subtypes of influenza viruses, we cannot be sure until clinical trials in volunteers are done." | "They are very promising and, although they suggest a protective capacity against all subtypes of influenza viruses, we cannot be sure until clinical trials in volunteers are done." |
| Estanislao Nistal, a virologist at San Pablo University, said: "All of this implies the potential for an easily and rapidly constructed universal vaccine that could be of great use in the event of a pandemic outbreak of a novel influenza virus." | Estanislao Nistal, a virologist at San Pablo University, said: "All of this implies the potential for an easily and rapidly constructed universal vaccine that could be of great use in the event of a pandemic outbreak of a novel influenza virus." |
| Related Topics | |
| Vaccination | |
| Flu |