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A new type of influenza vaccine has been developed which suggests that a "universal" protection against the killer virus could be possible, according to new research.

The vaccine targets part of the virus common to all strains, meaning it could provide a way around the problem of the bug frequently mutating and making preventative treatment ineffective.

It was created by a team working for US healthcare company Sanofi using techniques that have also raised hopes of a new generation of vaccines against other diseases.

In the paper, published in the journal Nature, team leader Gary Nabel said: "This structure-based, self-assembling synthetic nanoparticle vaccine improves the potency and breadth of influenza virus immunity, and it provides a foundation for building broader vaccine protection against emerging influenza viruses and other pathogens."

Influenza kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people globally per year, according to the World Health Organisation.

Earlier this month experts warned that a deadly bird flu virus sweeping through China had taken the first steps towards becoming a global threat to human populations. In the space of one month, the avian strain known as H7N9 spread through all 31 Chinese provinces and claimed 125 victims, killing a fifth of those infected.

Scientists say it is mutating rapidly and already has two of five genetic changes believed to be necessary for human-to-human transmission. Currently the virus has made its home in chickens, and only affected people who have had close contact with the birds, often at live markets.

The Sanofi team's vaccine is built using protein "self-assembling nanoparticles", which when injected create antibodies that attach themselves to parts of the virus that are common to different strains.

In lab tests on ferrets, which can suffer the same strains of flu as humans, it was more potent and affected more strains than the current licensed vaccine, the team said. It is also safer to make than standard vaccines, which are produced by growing the virus in a lab. The DIY way it is made means similar methods could be used to create vaccines against other diseases.

Scientists gave a cautious welcome to the research, but said trials on humans were needed to see if it worked as well as hoped.

Originally posted here:
Vaccine hope to combat flu virus