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WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (PTI) — An experimental mRNA-based vaccine against all 20 known subtypes of influenza virus provided broad protection in initial tests against other deadly influenza strains, a study suggests strain.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania say this could one day become a general precaution against future flu pandemics.
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According to the study, tests in animal models showed that the vaccine significantly reduced signs of illness and prevented death even when the animals were exposed to a different strain of flu than the one used to make the vaccine.
The “multivalent” vaccine, described by the researchers in a paper published in the journal Science, uses the same messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology used in the Pfizer and Moderna SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, the study said .
The mRNA technology that makes these COVID-19 vaccines possible was pioneered at Penn, the study said.
Study senior author Scott Hensley said: “The idea here is to create a vaccine that gives people a baseline level of immune memory against different strains of influenza so that when the next influenza pandemic hits, the number of illnesses and deaths will be lower. will be greatly reduced.”
Influenza viruses periodically cause pandemics, killing large numbers of people. The most famous of these was the “Spanish flu” pandemic of 1918-19, which killed at least tens of millions of people around the world.
Influenza viruses can circulate in birds, pigs and other animals, and a pandemic begins when one of the strains makes its way to humans and mutates, making it better suited for human transmission.
Current flu vaccines are only “seasonal” vaccines that protect against recently circulating strains but are not expected to protect against new pandemic strains. The strategy employed by the Penn researchers was to vaccinate with an immunogen (an antigen that stimulates an immune response) from all known influenza subtypes to achieve broad protection, according to the study.
The vaccine is not expected to provide “sterilized” immunity that completely prevents viral infection. Instead, the new study shows that the vaccine elicited a memory immune response that could be quickly recalled and adapted to new pandemic strains, significantly reducing severe illness and death from the infection.
“It will be comparable to the first generation SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine, which targeted the original Wuhan strain of the coronavirus.
“Against later variants such as Omicron, these original vaccines did not completely block viral infection, but they continued to provide durable protection against severe disease and death,” Hensley said.
After the experimental vaccine is injected and taken up by the recipient’s cells, it begins producing the key influenza virus protein hemagglutinin for all 20 influenza hemagglutinin subtypes (influenza A viruses H1 to H18, and two other influenza B viruses) protein copies of viruses.
“Immunising against all of these subtypes would be a major challenge with traditional vaccines, but with mRNA technology it’s relatively easy,” Hensley said.
In mice, the mRNA vaccine elicited high levels of antibodies that remained high for at least four months and produced strong responses to all 20 influenza subtypes. In addition, the vaccine appears to be relatively unaffected by previous exposure to influenza viruses, which could affect the immune response to traditional influenza vaccines.
The researchers observed that the antibody responses in the mice were strong and broad, regardless of whether the animals had been previously exposed to the flu virus.
Hensley and his colleagues are currently designing human clinical trials, he said. The researchers envision that if these trials are successful, the vaccine might help trigger long-term immune memory against all influenza subtypes in people of all ages, including young children.
“We think this vaccine could significantly reduce the chance of getting a severe flu infection,” Hensley said.
In principle, the same multivalent mRNA strategy could be used for other viruses with pandemic potential, including coronaviruses, he added.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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