Advancement in Flu Shot Technology

 

Every year, come October/November, it's that time of year that many dread - time to get your annual flu shot.

Like it or not, in my opinion it's a small price to pay for protection against the flu, which isn't fun for anyone. Some people resist every year saying that it's pointless or "I got one last year!" The truth is, the annual flu shot typically produces antibodies for 75% of people, giving protection against infection with influenza to the majority of those who receive the vaccine. However, despite these good odds, how nice would it be to never have to get another flu shot again? Well, except for just one more!

The University of Texas Medical Branch (Woot! Way to represent!) is currently working on a universal influenza vaccine that would eliminate the need to create an annual vaccine due to the changing surface antigens of the virus. According to the Galveston County Daily News:

"The vaccine candidate, VAX102, targets a protein known as M2e, found on the surface of the influenza A virus, that has remained completely unchanged from 1918 until the recent pandemic, making it of interest to researchers searching for a target for the immune response to influenza that would be stable through many seasons."

This is a huge breakthrough for scientific research and public health worldwide! The current annual flu vaccines target two surface proteins of the influenza virus - hemagglutinin and neuraminidase - which change with the evolution of the virus and also give the flu its identification as H#N# (such as the swine flu, aka H1N1). 

The universal vaccine is currently undergoing clinical trials which are showing promising results. The benefits of such a vaccine are immense and would prevent the need to predict future evolution of the virus to create a yearly vaccine. This would allow greater immune protection against the flu to patients worldwide and make vaccination more feasible, economical, and practical. 

Way to go, UTMB!!