REAL LIFE NEWS: MULTI-STRAIN FLU VACCINE COULD PROVIDE UNIVERSAL PROTECTION
by Hazed
The annual flu vaccine is always a bit of a hit and miss affair, because it can only protect against one particular strain of the virus. Scientists have to guess in advance what type of influenza is likely to appear. Sometimes they get it wrong – last winter the vaccine only protected about 3% of those who were inoculated, when usually it has a 50% protection rate.
So it’s really good news that scientists have developed a flu vaccine that works against more than one strain of the virus. Two different groups, working independently of each other, have made breakthroughs by developing vaccines which target a part of the influenza virus that rarely mutates.
It has been tested on animals, but there are another three to five years of further tests needed before it’s ready to be tried on humans.
If it does turn out to be effective, then at least we could have a universal flu jab – and you won’t have to get inoculated every year, because one shot will last a lifetime.
