Universal influenza vaccine breakthrough could prevent flu outbreaks

A prospective cohort study recently published in the journal Nature Medicine reveals that there might be a solution to rapidly changing and evolving flu viruses and strains after all. Researchers from Imperial College London claim that they have made a “blueprint” for a universal flu vaccine which can be used as a preventive measure against several flu viruses and strains. The study made use of 342 staff and students of the university who were afflicted with the 2009 swine flu pandemic. Each of the subjects had their health conditions monitored throughout the outbreak. Specifically, the researchers compared levels of the CD8 T cells among subjects at the start of the pandemic. By the end of the outbreak, it was discovered that subjects who had higher levels of CD8 T cell levels developed milder symptoms compared to those who had lower levels of such T cells. A CD8 T cell is a kind of virus...