Scientists Announce Universal Flu Vaccine and more To Come

A team of researchers from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Hokkaido University, Saitama Medical University and chemical maker NOF Corporation, working under Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, has developed a new universal vaccine that is effective against many types of influenza. And although clinical use of the vaccine in humans is still years away, trials in mice have shown promising results, even on strains that can quickly mutate.

Unlike previous vaccines, which were developed based on proteins covering the outside surface of the virus that differs between influenza strains, the new vaccine is designed to target the proteins inside the virus, which are more stable. The researchers used internal proteins from three common influenza strains; the Hong Kong A, the Soviet A, and the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu strain to develop an artificial version of the protein, which was then attached to a special lipid membrane. When the vaccine is injected, the immune system attacks the cells infected by the virus.

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The virus behind cold sores is a major cause of the insoluble protein plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease sufferers, University of Manchester researchers have revealed.

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