Study shows promise for a universal flu vaccine

New research led by Oregon Health & Science University reveals a promising approach to developing a universal influenza vaccine — a so-called “one and done” vaccine that confers lifetime immunity against an evolving virus. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, tested an OHSU-developed vaccine platform against the virus considered most likely to trigger the next pandemic. Researchers reported the vaccine generated a robust immune response in nonhuman primates that were exposed to the avian H5N1 influenza virus. But the vaccine wasn’t based on the contemporary H5N1 virus; instead, the primates were inoculated against the influenza virus of 1918 that killed millions of people worldwide. “It’s exciting because in most cases, this kind of basic science research advances the science very gradually; in 20 years, it might become something,” said senior author Jonah Sacha, Ph.D., professor and chief of the Division of Pathobiology at OHSU’s Oregon National Primate Research Center. “This could...