Scientists develop a universal flu vaccine, just a few injections in a lifetime.

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Scientists say they have now successfully developed a universal vaccine that may require several injections throughout a person's life, rather than just one injection per year.

Scientists say they have successfully developed a universal vaccine that may require several injections throughout a person's life, rather than requiring an injection every year. Currently, the era of providing vaccines during the flu season will soon become a thing of the past, as the strains mutate and protect themselves against the effects of drugs.

But the newly developed vaccines target some viruses that do not change between different strains, which means they do not develop resistance in the same way. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania say that as time goes on, the body's ability to withstand the flu will become stronger.

In this study of mice, the authors of the study said that he and his colleagues were "completely shocked" by the latest research vaccine, and that the application prospects of the study are "immeasurable." The reason researchers in the United States conducted this study is that despite the widespread use of seasonal flu vaccines, millions of people are still infected with the virus every year.

More than 30,000 people die each year in the United States due to flu or flu-related complications. In the study, the developed universal vaccine was able to protect experimental mice from various influenza strains.

Over the time, people's response after 30 weeks of vaccination was stronger than after 4 weeks, and the body's response to influenza virus infection was getting stronger and stronger, and the effectiveness of the vaccine was correspondingly weakened. Therefore, the newly developed universal vaccine may be used by everyone in the future.

The study's author, Dr. Scott Hensley, said that if it is 50% more effective on the human body than on the body of a mouse, the vaccine will have immeasurable application prospects. . This may be the best solution everyone can use to protect themselves from the flu in the future.

The vaccine works by simulating a flu infection that stimulates the body's immune system to learn how to attack the flu virus into the body. The vaccine will attack a portion of the virus that does not mutate. Unlike other vaccines, you can imagine that the virus is covered by mushroom-shaped proteins. The newly developed universal vaccine attacks the "mushroom" stem.

Ordinary seasonal vaccines attack the "mushroom" head, but when the virus mutates, the "mushroom" will change shape, which means the vaccine will become ineffective. This is why seasonal vaccines must be vaccinated every year because the nature of the virus changes and new vaccines are needed to deal with them.

However, as the virus strain changes, the stem always maintains a constant shape, which means that the virus does not become resistant to the universal vaccine, and it is only necessary to inject several times in a person's life. Dr. Drew Weissman, co-author of the study, said: "This vaccine is capable of achieving the full majority of vaccines that are beyond the reach of other vaccine candidates. It provides extensive protection for a protected area. ”

Scientists are "completely stunned" by the effectiveness of this vaccine, and Dr. Hansley stressed that when we first started testing the vaccine, we were shocked by its immune response level. Next we will test on primates and human bodies.