According to ScienceDaily:
The British-American biotech company Acambis reports the successful conclusion of Phase I trials of the universal flu vaccine in humans. The universal influenza vaccine has been pioneered by researchers from VIB and Ghent University. This vaccine is intended to provide protection against all ‘A’ strains of the virus that causes human influenza, including pandemic strains. Therefore, this vaccine will not need to be renewed annually.
What would make this new vaccine different from the ones already available is that it would target M2e, a conserved region of influenza “A” strains. Since that part doesn’t constantly mutate and about 2/3 of seasonal epidemics and all pandemics are due to type “A” strains, it could be a very efficient weapon against repeats of the “Spanish Flu” (1918−1919) that killed at least 50 million people worldwide. Only the future will tell if phase II and III trials are successful.
You can learn more about the Lifeboat Foundation BioShield program here.
This is very welcome news. A World Health Organization report states that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, USA project that today a pandemic is likely to result in 2 to 7.4 million deaths globally, and the estimated economic impact to the US alone would be between US$71.3 and $166.5 billion, excluding disruptions to commerce and society.
Welcome to the Lifeboat Foundation blog, Michael, and to the sustainability board — you are a very welcome addition here!
For some reason the beginning of this article made me wonder if any medical trials involving the flu led to the Swine Flu breaking out like it did this past spring. Any mistakes that were made I mean.