Universal flu vaccine the 'Holy Grail' of flu shots

Sep 8 2008

Scientists say a universal flu vaccine still in the pipeline could see an end to the annual flu shot.

The vaccine currently being tested on volunteers in Britain has a different approach to vaccines presently used as it targets a different part of the virus and means it will not have to be altered every year to match circulating strains.

The researchers say it could be a key weapon in the event of a flu pandemic.

The vaccine is being developed by Oxford University researchers and if successful will present the equivalent of a "holy grail" in the field of flu research.

Dr. Sarah Gilbert, the study leader, from the Jenner Institute at Oxford, says traditional influenza vaccines are designed to prompt an immune response to H and N proteins on the outer shell of the virus but the new vaccine could provide universal vaccination where everyone is protected.

Dr. Gilbert these proteins are notoriously prone to mutation and every year the vaccine has to be reformulated on the basis of the strains likely to be most prominent.

The researchers have instead developed a vaccine on the basis of proteins inside the cell, which are far more similar across different strains - a weakened smallpox virus is used to carry the proteins into the body, a technique which has already been used in malaria and TB vaccines.

As soon as the virus invades the cell and starts to multiply, these inner proteins called matrix protein 1 and nucleo-protein, are revealed to the immune system where T cells recognise and destroy the cells containing the proteins the next time it encounters them.

Initial trials will involve 12 people who will be vaccinated to test the dose before further studies are done to check its effectiveness in people exposed to flu.

The new universal flu vaccine is injected into the arm and Dr. Gilbert says if the tests are successful it could drastically change the way flu vaccine is used as stockpiles of the vaccine could be made in advance instead of having to wait for an outbreak to then identify the particular strain of flu.

Potentially, once people had received the vaccine they would only need a booster once every 5 to 10 years, however the research team are looking at another 5 to 10 years of further tests ahead of them.

A similar approach might eventually also be used to combat HIV, TB, malaria and even cancer.

The World Health Organisation says each year flu epidemics result in between three and five million cases of severe illness and between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths around the world.