First universal flu vaccine developed

NEWDELHI: Scientists have developed two new universal flu vaccines to protect against potential influenza pandemics that could kill millions.

Unlike current vaccines that protect against certain strains, the new vaccine gives protection for up to 88% of known flu strains worldwide in a single shot.

A second United States-specific vaccine covers 95% of known US influenza strains.

Seasonal influenza is an acute viral infection that spreads easily from person to person. Influenza viruses are classified into subtypes according to the combinations of various virus surface proteins.

Among many subtypes of influenza A viruses, influenza A(H1N1) and A(H3N2) are currently circulating among humans. Antiviral drugs are used to treat influenza, but viruses can develop resistance to the drugs.

Annual flu epidemics cause up to half a million deaths globally, estimates the World Health Organisation.

“Every year, we have a round of flu vaccination, where we choose a recent strain of flu as the vaccine and hope that it will protect against next year’s strains,” Derek Gatherer of Lancaster University, which collaborated with universities of Aston and Complutense in Madrid to use computational techniques to design the vaccine, said in a study that was published in the leading journal Bioinformatics.