Researchers one step closer to a flu vaccine that will last a lifetime

MASSACHUSETTS – Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology along with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard are now working on the universal flu vaccine. Scientists aim that the new vaccine could work against all flu strains.

The vaccine would only need to be taken once in life – or a few times– saving resources and time. Researchers are working on a strategy for vaccines that could protect against any influenza virus.

Usually, the vaccine made on annual basis is often not fully protective for everyone.

In a study appearing today, they describe a vaccine that triggers an immune response against an influenza protein segment that rarely mutates but is normally not targeted by the immune system.

The immunization comprises nanoparticles covered with influenza proteins that train the invulnerable framework to make the desired antibodies. In investigations of mice with humanized immune systems, the researchers indicated that their immunization can inspire a counteracting agent reaction focusing on that elusive protein segment, raising the likelihood that the antibody could be effective against any flu strain.

The analysts built up a computational model that helped them to additionally investigate the “immunodominance” of the protein’s head district. “We hypothesized that the surface calculation of the infection could be critical to its capacity to get by shielding its weak parts from antibodies,”

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