Universal Flu Vaccine

Scientists say they are closer to creating universal flu vaccine.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (1/11, Williams) reports that after studying patients in Atlanta who were "infected by the 2009 H1N1 pandemic flu," scientists now say they are "one step closer to creating a universal flu vaccine." According to the paper in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, "several individuals infected with the H1N1 virus developed antibodies that protect against a variety of flu strains," a discovery that "could help put an end to the annual race to develop a new vaccine for flu strains that are the most prevalent each year." NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci "said he thinks an initial trial of a global vaccine on humans may be just a couple of years away, but it could be several years before such a vaccine actually makes it to store shelves."
HealthDay (1/10, Preidt) reported. "The surprise was that such a very difficult influenza strain, as opposed to the most common strains, could lead us to something so widely applicable," he added.
Delving into study specifics, the Time (1/10, Melnick) "Healthland" blog reported that "Wilson and his team -- which included researchers from Columbia University, Harvard University and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- tested 86 antibodies they'd been able to cultivate from nine H1N1 patients and found that five of the antibodies were effective against several strains of flu virus, including all of the H1N1 strains that have appeared over the past decade." And, "in additional tests, some of those same five antibodies protected mice from lethal doses of the 2009 H1N1 influenza or other common lab strains of flu virus."
Current "vaccines target a section of the viral hemagglutinin protein, the so-called globular head, which is highly variable," MedPage Today (1/10, Smith) noted. "But more than half of the antibodies found by the researchers bound to regions in the stalk of the protein, which is thought to be more highly conserved, Wilson said. Interestingly, however, some antibodies found in the study did bind to the head of the protein and even they were broadly neutralizing, suggesting that their binding regions are also highly conserved over time," and "using those highly conserved regions, it might be possible to create a flu vaccine that would protect year after year, he said." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1/10, Johnson) "Health & Science Today" blog also covered the study.