A new universal influenza vaccine may be available in a few years thanks to a scientific breakthrough.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 5 million people worldwide fall ill with the flu every year, and the disease claims up to 650,000 lives a year. Although the flu is more common in the developing world, over 150 people in the UK died from it last winter.
Annual vaccination serves as a salvation from certain strains of influenza, while the composition of the vaccine changes from year to year depending on the forecast of the activity of certain strains of influenza. In addition, vaccination is a relatively expensive thing, it must be carried out two to three months before the outbreak of an epidemic and, in addition, does not give a 100% guarantee of protection.
Scientists are now pinning their hopes on a universal, lifelong flu vaccine that is cheap to produce and easy to administer, after making a scientific breakthrough in understanding the disease.
Influenza has long been considered a highly volatile virus capable of mutating and evading any immunity developed in the body. This circumstance suggests that the creation of any long-term vaccine is unlikely.
But through the use of computer models, the researchers found that, despite the variation, only a few strains dominate each flu season, involving the same few parts of a particular protein.
This protein is found on the surface of the influenza virus and is known as hemagglutinin. By mixing different influenza vaccines that have been used in the past, the new vaccine could theoretically protect people against future strains, the researchers said.
“This could revolutionize the vaccine development process,” said Dr Craig Thompson of Oxford University.
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“We have moved from predicting a mathematical model to designing a universal influenza vaccine,” added colleague Professor Sunretra Gupta.
Computer models allowed researchers to correlate historical variations in the influenza virus and identify a series of cycles. Among other things, they found tremendous similarities between the viruses that circulated in 1934, 1977 and 2006.
Armed with this knowledge, scientists have created a new vaccine based on the 1977 and 2006 vaccines that successfully protects mice against the 1934 influenza virus strain. This process could potentially be used to create an effective vaccine for humans that can protect them against most (if not all) new strains of influenza.
However, it will be several years before a generic vaccine becomes available to a wide range of potential customers, as long-term human trials are required.
The researchers said the findings could be used to create a new type of flu vaccine that could potentially provide lifelong protection against the flu.
Such vaccines can be produced inexpensively, allowing NHS providers to save a lot of money, unlike many new vaccines and underperforming drugs currently on the market.
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