Annual flu vaccines protect against severe infection, but they vary in efficacy and may not match the most virulent strains of the season. The reality of a universal flu vaccine, which would protect people from all strains, and ideally longer than a single season, remains elusive. Findings published this week in the Journal of Virology suggest we're getting closer.
Researchers at Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute have reported that their universal flu vaccine candidate, tested on animal models, elicited a strong immune response and provided protection against severe infection after viral exposure. The new work builds on previous, similarly promising preclinical studies on mice from the same group, led by Ted M. Ross, Ph.
D., Director of Global Vaccine Development at Cleveland Clinic. The researchers hope to launch human clinical trials within 1–3 years, said virologist Naoko Uno, Ph.
D., who led the new study. "We want to make sure our vaccine can span multiple seasons, not just one, and protect against all the strains that affect humans," she said.
Scientists have identified 4 types of influenza virus, but 2 of them—Influenza A and Influenza B—pose the greatest risks to humans. Seasonal flu vaccines include proteins from 3 or 4 circulating subtypes of those viruses, which include H1N1, H3N2 and IBV. But because the virus mutates so quickly, predicting which strains will pose the biggest risk, and thus choosing which ingredients to include, is a guessing game.
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