Via Deutsche Welle: New discovery could spell end to seasonal flu. Excerpt:
A potential breakthrough discovery of new antibodies could lead to a universal vaccine. If successful, it could protect against all types of deadly influenza viruses and even prevent pandemics, a study shows.
Immunologist Ali Ellebedy was working on a study analyzing the immune response to flu infection in humans. During his research, he spotted a new type of powerful antibody in a blood sample from a patient infected with human influenza virus.
Ellebedy then sent samples of the antibody to Florian Krammer — a microbiologist who proved the effectiveness of the antibodies by testing them against extensive samples of virus proteins dating back to the 1970s. These proteins, called neuraminidase, enable the virus to spread through the human body.
The study, which was jointly conducted by Scripps Research, Washington University's School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Icahn School of Medicine in New York, was published in the October 25 issue of Science.
Future vaccine could survive antiviral resistance
Krammer told DW that the beauty of this new antibody, called 10G1, is that it binds to the parts of the virus that never change. This means that even if new strains of influenza viruses are detected, a potential vaccine containing new antibodies would still be effective.
Moreover, the antibody has a powerful potential to attack both A and B subtypes of influenza viruses, making it an even better candidate for a universal vaccine that would combat human, swine, and bird strains, as well as other rarer strains of lethal flu viruses.
