A new study says a special vaccine to be developed could protect against all types of flu, including the deadly ones. Considering how dangerous the flu is and the number of people who die from the flu every year, if such a universal vaccine is produced, it will be an incredibly beneficial development.
The senior author of the study, Dr. “Our thinking is to have a vaccine that will give people a baseline immune memory against various strains of flu, so that when the next flu epidemic occurs, there will be much less sickness and death,” Scott Hensley, professor of microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, said in a statement.
The vaccine will use mRNA technology that has succeeded in COVID-19 vaccines. It will take advantage of antigens that stimulate an immune response. The RNA has the code for an important (but harmless) flu protein shared among 18 types of Influenza A viruses. Once injected, cells in the area produce a protein, and the immune system believes it to be an attack and responds by producing specific antibodies.
Thus, when a flu virus enters the organism, the immune system can react more quickly. The vaccine is not protective, so it doesn’t prevent you from getting the flu again. It’s just preparing your body; so even if you get the flu, the severity of the disease is much less.
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