Tuesday, January 11, 2022

No more annual flu shot? Researchers find new target for universal influenza vaccine

Oh this is such a disappointing good news! I have been getting my annual flu shots for over 20 years now! How will my well trained immune system respond to that?

"... In a typical year, influenza affects more than 20 million people in the United States and leads to more than 20,000 deaths. ...
Many of the antibodies present in the blood of participants were antibodies already known to recognize either the HA head or stalk. But a collection of new antibodies stood out; the antibodies bound to the very bottom of the stalk, near where each HA molecule is attached to the membrane of the flu virion. ..."

From the abstract:
"Seasonal influenza viruses constantly change through antigenic drift and the emergence of pandemic influenza viruses through antigenic shift is unpredictable. Conventional influenza virus vaccines induce strain-specific neutralizing antibodies against the variable immunodominant globular head domain of the viral hemagglutinin protein. This necessitates frequent re-formulation of vaccines and handicaps pandemic preparedness. ... Vaccination was found to be safe and induced a broad, strong, durable and functional immune response targeting the conserved, immunosubdominant stalk of the hemagglutinin. The results suggest that chimeric hemagglutinins have the potential to be developed as universal vaccines that protect broadly against influenza viruses."

No more annual flu shot? Scripps Research and collaborators find new target for universal influenza vaccine | Scripps Research A new antibody discovered in the blood of some people vaccinated against or infected with influenza can recognize a broad variety of flu viruses.




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