A unique vaccine for lifetime protection against flu
Scientists are now investigating a vaccination that offers lifelong protection against the infectious disease.
Recent research from an Australian university has unveiled that
flu-killing immunity cells memorise different virus strains, a clue
which could help develop a unique vaccine for lifetime protection
against the flu, press reported on Thursday.
These Lymphocyte T CD8+ cells “are like hit men of our immune system
and they can efficiently eliminate the virus-infected cells,” Katherine
Kedzierska, research team-leader from Melbourne University, said.
“This is the first time we’ve shown that those killer T-cells are
important in protecting against very serious disease very early on in
the infection,” Kedzierska told ABC channel.
In collaboration with Shanghai Public Health Centre and Fudan
University in China, the research was based on observations that some
patients who contracted the H7N9 bird flu in 2013 were able to recover
more quickly than others.
After taking samples, the researchers noted that the patients who
managed to recover seemed to have a prior immunity thanks to T-cells,
while those who lacked these cells suffered severely or died, ABC added.
Scientists are now investigating a vaccination that offers lifelong
protection against the infectious disease, which affects humans, birds
and other animals like pigs.
“We can provide universal immunity that will recognize a vast array
of influenza strains and subtypes including new influenza viruses
emerging and infecting humans,” Kedzierska explained.
Similarly, the scientists considered that the findings, published in
weekly magazine Nature Communications, will help early diagnosis and
gathering information about how a patient’s immune system responds to
attacks from a variety of viruses.
