While flu vaccine effectiveness varies from year to year, the vaccine’s prevention rate is never perfect. As a result, plenty of people just skip getting the flu shot, ignoring all recommendations to the contrary from the medical community. But with new research just released about flu vaccine research, it seems we’re closer than ever to finding a significantly more effective influenza immunization.
Researchers at Georgia State University have come up with a universal vaccine, to fight influenza A viruses, that produces long-lasting immunity in mice. The researchers shared their findings in a new study published this week in the journal Nature Communications.
For the study, scientists vaccinated mice twice with double-layered protein nanoparticles that target the stalk of the influenza virus’s surface protein, which is called hemagglutinin. The researchers discovered that this fully protected the mice against several forms of influenza A viruses, including H1N1, H5N1, H7N9, and H3N2 — the predominant strain of this year’s flu. It also dramatically reduced the amount of the virus that was found in the lungs of the mice.
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