- The NIH is enrolling patients in an early-stage clinical trial to test a universal flu vaccine based on mRNA technology.
- The technology is behind the novel coronavirus vaccines widely used by Moderna and Pfizer.
- Scientists hope the vaccine will protect against different strains of influenza and provide long-term immunity so people don’t need to be vaccinated every year.
A woman receives a moderna coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine booster at a vaccination center in Antwerp, Belgium, on February 1, 2022.
Joanna Guerron | Reuters
The patient is currently enrolled in an early-stage clinical trial, universal influenza vaccine It is based on messenger RNA technology, the National Institutes of Health announced Monday.
Scientists hope the vaccine will protect against different strains of influenza and provide long-term immunity so people don’t need to be vaccinated every year.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) is the technology behind the novel coronavirus vaccines widely used by Moderna and Pfizer. NIH played a key role in developing the mRNA platform used by Moderna.
“A universal flu vaccine could provide an important line of defense against future influenza pandemics,” said Dr. Hugh Auchincross, acting director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in a statement Monday.
The universal flu vaccine trial will enroll up to 50 healthy participants between the ages of 18 and 49 to test whether the experimental vaccine is safe and whether it provokes an immune response, according to the NIH. It says.
The study will also include participants who received a quadrivalent flu vaccine that protects against four strains of the virus, and will compare the experimental universal shot with current commercially available vaccines.
Universal Shot was developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The clinical trial enrolls volunteers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Current-generation influenza vaccines provide significant protection against hospitalization, but immunization efficacy can vary widely from year to year.
Scientists now need to predict months in advance which strains of influenza will circulate, giving vaccine makers time to produce vaccines ahead of the respiratory virus season.
Leading flu strains can change between the time an expert selects a strain and the time manufacturers start vaccinating. Depending on the season, shots may not fit well with circulating strains, resulting in reduced effectiveness.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, flu vaccines reduce the risk of illness by 40% to 60% when well-matched with circulating strains. In some years, however, vaccine efficacy was only 19% because vaccination was inadequate.
Between 2010 and 2020, flu killed between 12,000 and 52,000 people a year in the United States, according to the CDC, depending on the circulating strains and vaccine suitability.
