Gates pays for drive to beat killer flu

A UNIVERSITY in Yorkshire has been awarded more than £300,000 by a charitable foundation set up by Bill and Melinda Gates to tackle flu.

The funding for the University of Sheffield will be used to see if vaccines can be created to protect children in parts of the world where the virus can prove fatal.

The university was given $400,000 (£306,000) from the foundation set up by Mr Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, and his wife. Researchers are hoping to help develop a vaccine strategy in countries in sub-Saharan Africa where influenza contributes to some of the highest preventable death rates in children.

Dr Thushan de Silva, who is based in the university’s Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease, said: “There is increasing evidence the first encounters we have with the influenza virus as a child can shape how susceptible we are to different influenza throughout life.

“If we can find out if vaccinating young children before they are exposed can provide broader and longer-term immunity it would open up new avenues to repurpose current seasonal vaccines within a broader universal influenza vaccine strategy and significantly advance the timeline to achieving this.”

Dr de Silva, who works with the London School of Hygiene and viruses

Tropical Medicine on the project, said: “It has the potential to be incredibly significant.”

Francesco Berlanda-Scorza, who is a project director at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said: “This important research will focus on elucidating the different immunological responses to live attenuated vaccines, particularly early in life, in children who have already experienced influenza infections and those who haven’t.”