One step closer to a universal flu vaccine

Researchers from the University of British Columbia recently discovered a possible route to making a universal flu vaccine, which could prevent many different strains of flu. Influenza viruses cause 200,000 to 500,000 deaths per year and have also been eyed as a potential sources of bioterrorism. The team, led by Prof. John Schrader, has shown that  a vaccine created from the 2009 H1N1 swine flu may be effective against many types of influenza, including the H5N1 bird flu strain. These viruses have protein called hemagglutinin, or HA, that has a head, with which the flu virus binds to human cells, and a stem. This study discovered that the 2009 pandemic H1N1 vaccine induces antibodies which fight various flu viruses by attacking the stem of the HA, which does not change in different flu variants, causing the viruses to be neutralized. Through this discovery, universal flu vaccines could be developed not only for human but also for animals.