Researchers Develop Vaccine that can Protect against Different Strains of Flu

Developing vaccine for flu is a difficult task, as researchers first have to look at the various strains that are most likely to cause the disease in a given year. A new study proposes a new model to make vaccines more "universal", where a vaccine is designed to target an internal protein of the flu virus, as opposed to surface proteins that are bound to change over time.

The study was conducted by researchers from University of Georgia who found that a nucleoprotein is a better target for vaccine against flu, since it is critical for viral multiplication.

"Influenza viruses change their surface proteins for various reasons and by various means. As a result, we need annual vaccination to match the circulating strains," said Biao He, a professor of infectious diseases in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, and lead author of the study.

He and colleagues used a common canine virus parainfluenza virus 5, or PIV5, to deliver the vaccine. The study showed that a single dose of the vaccine protected mice from getting infected with both H1N1 and H5N1 (strains of flu). PIV5 causes flu in dogs.

"This finding suggests flu vaccines can protect against multiple strains, thus fewer flu vaccinations will be necessary," He added, according to a news release.

The virus used as a vector in the present study, PIV5, has been already used as a part of kennel cough vaccines. The virus is now being produced on a mass scale using cell cultures.

The vaccine was 100 percent effective in protecting mice from H1N1 and 60 percent effective against H5N1.

"We are looking forward to further testing this novel vaccine and moving it to human clinical trial as soon as possible," He said.

The study is published in the Journal of Virology and is available here.