UNIVERSAL FLU VACCINE

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Context

A new study describes successful animal tests of universal flu vaccine, offering hope that the country can be protected against future flu pandemics.

Details

The experimental flu vaccine relies on mRNA. It is in early stages — tested only in mice and ferrets — but the vaccine provides important proof that a single shot could be used against an entire family of viruses.
If the vaccine succeeds in people, the approach could be used against other virus families, perhaps including the coronavirus.
The vaccine would not replace annual flu shots but would provide a shield against severe disease and death from potential pandemic threats.

Significance

Current influenza vaccines protect against seasonal flu but would provide little protection against a new strain that may emerge as a pandemic threat. During the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic, for example, the conventional vaccine offered little defense against the virus. But older adults who had been exposed to H1N1 strains in childhood developed only mild symptoms.
Scientists have long tried to create a vaccine that would introduce children to every possible strain of flu they may encounter later in life. But researchers have been constrained by technical hurdles and by the diversity of the flu virus.
There’s a real need for new influenza vaccines to provide protection against pandemic threats that are out there.
If there’s a new influenza pandemic tomorrow, if we had a vaccine like this that was widely employed before that pandemic, we might not have to shut everything down.
By the age of 5, most children have been infected with the flu multiple times and have gained some immunity — but only against the strains they have encountered.