Researchers discover novel way to make one-time flu vaccine

Every year, between 3,000 and 49,000 people die from the flu and its complications. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the influenza pandemic of 1918, which took the lives of between 20 million and 40 million people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges people to get a flu vaccine every year, especially people who are at high risk from flu complications. Generally the choice for a flu vaccine comes in the form of a nasal mist that employs a live virus, or flu shots that rely on a killed virus — the concept being that when the pathogens are introduced in a mild form, the body is able to build sufficient antibodies to defend against the full strain, should it strike. But now a revolutionary new way to make a one-time, universal influenza vaccine has been discovered by a researcher and his partners at Georgia State University’s Center...