Why it’s time for a rethink on flu vaccination
8 years, 4 months ago

Why it’s time for a rethink on flu vaccination

The Independent  

Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Our immune systems use antibodies – proteins which specifically recognise and bind onto the surfaces of virus particles – to target and destroy the flu before the symptoms get started. If we think of the shape-shifting variants of seasonal flu having reduced visibility to our immune systems, pandemic strains take it one stage further – they are virtually invisible, with potentially devastating consequences. open image in gallery The shape-shifting flu virus Universal flu vaccine One perennial idea has been that we need a universal influenza vaccine – a vaccine that would generate lifelong immunity to all subtypes of flu, including new pandemic strains. Since pandemic strains are effectively invisible to the immunity acquired from contact with seasonal flu, a universal flu vaccine couldn’t be anything like our current vaccines.

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History of this topic

Your questions about bird flu answered by experts
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Your questions about bird flu answered by experts

Salon  

The increasing threat of bird flu is becoming too big to ignore as it continues to spread to an unprecedented number of species around the world, affecting egg prices as huge swaths of poultry are infected and killed with the virus. Experts maintain that the risk of infection is low, although the Louisiana patient, an older individual with underlying health …

How America lost control of bird flu, setting the stage for another pandemic
3 months, 1 week ago

How America lost control of bird flu, setting the stage for another pandemic

Salon  

Keith Poulsen’s jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. “I don’t know if the bird flu will become a pandemic, but if it does, we are screwed.” To understand how the bird flu got out of hand, KFF Health News interviewed nearly 70 government officials, farmers and farmworkers, …

How America lost control of the bird flu, setting the stage for another pandemic
3 months, 1 week ago

How America lost control of the bird flu, setting the stage for another pandemic

CNN  

Keith Poulsen’s jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. “I don’t know if the bird flu will become a pandemic, but if it does, we are screwed.” To understand how the bird flu got out of hand, KFF Health News interviewed nearly 70 government officials, farmers and farmworkers, …

Trump's failure and the next pandemic
4 months ago

Trump's failure and the next pandemic

Raw Story  

“The political folks believed that because was going to be relegated to Democratic states, that they could blame those governors, and that would be an effective political strategy.” —Vanity Fair’s Katherine Eban quoting Jared Kushner’s team in March, 2020. And it appears that the virus that has her at death’s door is a recent mutation: “But researchers have homed in …

Universal flu jab ‘could be available within five years’
8 months, 1 week ago

Universal flu jab ‘could be available within five years’

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Even after almost 100 years of evolution, the virus can’t change those critically important parts …

Finland is offering farmworkers bird flu shots. Some experts say the US should, too
8 months, 3 weeks ago

Finland is offering farmworkers bird flu shots. Some experts say the US should, too

Salon  

As bird flu spreads among dairy cattle in the U.S., veterinarians and researchers have taken note of Finland’s move to vaccinate farmworkers at risk of infection. “Farmworkers, veterinarians, and producers are handling large volumes of milk that can contain high levels of bird flu virus,” said Kay Russo, a livestock and poultry veterinarian in Fort Collins, Colorado. There’s no evidence …

FDA says it's preparing for a bird flu pandemic in people that could kill one in four Americans
10 months, 3 weeks ago

FDA says it's preparing for a bird flu pandemic in people that could kill one in four Americans

Daily Mail  

The FDA is gearing up for a bird flu pandemic in people that could kill one in four of those it infects, the agency's top official has revealed. Dr Robert Califf, FDA commissioner, pictured speaking to the Senate's agriculture committee on Wednesday The above graph shows the dairy herds that have tested positive for bird flu over time. Officials fear …

Launching an effective bird flu vaccine quickly could be tough, scientists warn
10 months, 4 weeks ago

Launching an effective bird flu vaccine quickly could be tough, scientists warn

NPR  

Launching an effective bird flu vaccine quickly could be tough, scientists warn Enlarge this image toggle caption skodonnell/Getty Images skodonnell/Getty Images The bird flu that's now spreading among cows doesn't yet appear to pose an imminent threat to most people. "Given those limitations, I think it's really critical for the federal government to take a much more aggressive posture," said …

A one-shot vaccine for COVID, flu and future viruses? Researchers say it's coming
11 months, 2 weeks ago

A one-shot vaccine for COVID, flu and future viruses? Researchers say it's coming

Salon  

At the beginning of the pandemic, many people hoped that infections with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 — or vaccines against the virus — would provide durable lifetime immunity, as is the case with diseases like measles or mumps. This new RNA-based technology, the research paper reports, would target a part of the viral genome that is common to …

The Long Quest for a Universal Flu Vaccine Finally Takes Its First Steps
1 year, 4 months ago

The Long Quest for a Universal Flu Vaccine Finally Takes Its First Steps

Wired  

At state health departments and academic medical centers, and at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, epidemiologists are intently watching two sets of data: the number of flu cases and the number of Americans taking flu shots. But there’s one more piece of data that will let analysts know how this flu season will unroll: whether the vaccine …

Two-year trial of bird flu vaccines "too slow" say experts
1 year, 6 months ago

Two-year trial of bird flu vaccines "too slow" say experts

Dutch News  

Some 1,800 day-old chicks have been vaccinated against bird flu as a first step in a two-year trial to test the effectiveness of two vaccines but experts say the process could be speeded up. Over seven million chickens, ducks and turkeys have been killed in the last two years as a result of the spread of the highly contagious bird …

'Just in case': Vaccine makers say bird flu shots for humans can be made in months
2 years ago

'Just in case': Vaccine makers say bird flu shots for humans can be made in months

India Today  

Some of the world's leading makers of flu vaccines say they could make hundreds of millions of bird flu shots for humans within months if a new strain of avian influenza ever jumps across the species divide. NEW APPROACHES In a pandemic, vaccine manufacturers would shift production of seasonal flu vaccines and instead make shots tailored to the new outbreak …

Researchers Prepare New mRNA Flu Shot that Can Target All Strains, Prevent Influenza Pandemic
2 years, 4 months ago

Researchers Prepare New mRNA Flu Shot that Can Target All Strains, Prevent Influenza Pandemic

News 18  

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania are developing a new mRNA vaccine targeting all known flu strains in a single shot and said the vaccine is showing promise in animal studies. Scott Hensley, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia told CBC: “Our approach was to make a vaccine that encoded every influenza subtype and lineage that we …

One and done? Why a universal vaccine that covers us for all future COVID-19 variants could be around the corner
2 years, 8 months ago

One and done? Why a universal vaccine that covers us for all future COVID-19 variants could be around the corner

ABC  

Remember whack-a-mole, the arcade game where a plastic mole pops its head up and you whack it with a mallet? Key points: Scientists are working on a universal vaccine that could guard against existing and future COVID-19 variants Their vaccine has been successful in animal trials The main barrier to proceeding to human trials is funding It's a game scientists …

Will Americans have the right COVID-19 vaccine this fall? Maybe
2 years, 8 months ago

Will Americans have the right COVID-19 vaccine this fall? Maybe

LA Times  

A man walks underneath the marquee of the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Determining which recipe should go into those doses to induce optimal protection — the vaccine’s “composition” — is an exercise in educated guesswork. Getting a timely and accurate fix on all this “is truly a challenge, and it is science at its hardest,” Dr. Peter Marks, the U.S. …

This season’s flu vaccine seems to be a poor match, preliminary CDC data shows, but it has been a mild flu season
3 years ago

This season’s flu vaccine seems to be a poor match, preliminary CDC data shows, but it has been a mild flu season

CNN  

CNN — The flu vaccine has not been a great a match for the predominant viruses this season, preliminary data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows – but the season isn’t over, and the estimate could change, the agency told CNN on Thursday. CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund also told CNN in an email that the agency …

Bird Flu Is Back in the US. No One Knows What Comes Next
3 years, 2 months ago

Bird Flu Is Back in the US. No One Knows What Comes Next

Wired  

In the first days of the new year, on the marshy coastal edge of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, a hunter shot an American widgeon, a rusty-fronted duck with a pale beak and a brilliant green stripe. The news of what was in the sample percolated through a pyramid of agencies, and on January 14 the US Department of Agriculture revealed why …

EXPLAINED: It's Not Only The Novel Coronavirus That Can Keep Changing, Vaccines Could Too
3 years, 2 months ago

EXPLAINED: It's Not Only The Novel Coronavirus That Can Keep Changing, Vaccines Could Too

News 18  

It’s been little over a year since the first vaccines against Covid-19 were rolled out under emergency approvals. But given the suggestion that “it’s just a little naive to think that the vaccines that we made in the first few hot minutes of the pandemic are the best vaccines that we can make”, there’s focus now on coming up with …

The Race Is On to Develop a Vaccine Against Every Coronavirus
3 years, 5 months ago

The Race Is On to Develop a Vaccine Against Every Coronavirus

Wired  

On October 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave most of the US population permission to get a Covid vaccine booster—a shot in such high demand that 10 million people somehow obtained it in advance of that approval in an effort to feel a little safer. In a fistful of papers and preprints published in the past six …

The trajectory of scientific progress in the time of pandemic
3 years, 7 months ago

The trajectory of scientific progress in the time of pandemic

The Hindu  

T he COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, represents a remarkable conjuncture in the history of science. Epistemological limitations The COVID-19 pandemic has also brought to the fore the limitations of science posed by the question, “How do we know what we know?” Given the extreme complexity of the phenomenon, the basis of our knowledge is itself uncertain and …

New universal coronavirus vaccine may help prevent future pandemics
3 years, 9 months ago

New universal coronavirus vaccine may help prevent future pandemics

India TV News  

Scientists have developed a universal vaccine that protected mice not just against COVID-19 but also other coronaviruses while triggering the immune system to fight off a dangerous variant. To prevent a future coronavirus pandemic, the team designed the vaccine to provide protection from the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and a group of coronaviruses known to make the jump from animals to …

Scientists Race To Develop Next Generation Of COVID Vaccines
3 years, 11 months ago

Scientists Race To Develop Next Generation Of COVID Vaccines

NPR  

Scientists Race To Develop Next Generation Of COVID Vaccines Enlarge this image toggle caption Government Pharmaceutical Organization of Thailand via Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Government Pharmaceutical Organization of Thailand via Agence France-Presse/Getty Images The three COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States are safe and effective and were made in record time. "We wanted to develop a platform technology where we …

COVID-19 vaccines may be tweaked if emerging coronavirus variants worsen, spread
4 years, 1 month ago

COVID-19 vaccines may be tweaked if emerging coronavirus variants worsen, spread

Firstpost  

The WHO and FDA are looking to the global flu vaccine system to make decisions around the COVID-19 shots. But studies are raising concern that first-generation COVID-19 vaccines don’t work as well against a mutant that first emerged in South Africa as they do against other versions circulating around the world. “This is a moving target right now.” Flu offers …

COVID-19 shots might be tweaked if variants get worse
4 years, 1 month ago

COVID-19 shots might be tweaked if variants get worse

Associated Press  

The makers of COVID-19 vaccines are figuring out how to tweak their recipes against worrisome virus mutations — and regulators are looking to flu as a blueprint if and when the shots need an update. But studies are raising concern that first-generation COVID-19 vaccines don’t work as well against a mutant that first emerged in South Africa as they do …

COVID-19 shots might be tweaked if variants get worse
4 years, 1 month ago

COVID-19 shots might be tweaked if variants get worse

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. But studies are raising concern that first-generation COVID-19 vaccines …

Scientists have just gotten closer to creating a universal flu vaccine
4 years, 3 months ago

Scientists have just gotten closer to creating a universal flu vaccine

Salon  

A new report reveals that scientists may have taken the first crucial steps toward developing a vaccine that will treat not specific strains of influenza, but all of them. The new study, which was first published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine on Monday, describes a universal flu vaccine candidate that could change the way we vaccinate ourselves against influenza. …

How Covid-19 is changing the flu
4 years, 5 months ago

How Covid-19 is changing the flu

BBC  

How Covid-19 is changing the flu Getty Images Humanity hasn’t always lived with the flu. Getty Images A universal flu vaccine might give us immunity to the disease no matter how much it mutates from season to season “We don't really understand it, but it may have to and may have to do with a little bit of changes in …

The deadly viruses that vanished without trace
4 years, 6 months ago

The deadly viruses that vanished without trace

BBC  

The deadly viruses that vanished without trace Science Photo Library Smallpox has plagued humans for thousands of years but was eradicated after a sustained vaccination campaign Scientists are only just starting to unravel why some viruses disappear, while others can linger and cause disease for centuries. In fact, it’s become so much of a human virus that scientists have begun …

The US keeps millions of chickens in secret farms to make flu vaccines. But their eggs won’t work for coronavirus
5 years ago

The US keeps millions of chickens in secret farms to make flu vaccines. But their eggs won’t work for coronavirus

CNN  

CNN — Across the United States, prized chickens are laying life-saving eggs at secret farms. The farms’ locations are “proprietary information,” said a spokesperson from Sanofi Pasteur, the biggest flu vaccine manufacturer in the US, citing “security sensitivities.” The eggs don’t come cheap: the Department of Health and Human Services spent $42 million on a three-year contract with one company …

Researchers Step Up Efforts To Develop A 'Universal' Flu Vaccine
5 years, 1 month ago

Researchers Step Up Efforts To Develop A 'Universal' Flu Vaccine

NPR  

Researchers Step Up Efforts To Develop A 'Universal' Flu Vaccine Enlarge this image toggle caption Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library/Getty Images Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library/Getty Images Sarah King isn't afraid of having the flu — in fact, she considers herself an "excellent sick person." Last fall, she checked in for a 10-day stay at Saint Louis University's "Hotel Influenza," a quarantine …

Flu shot: Universal influenza vaccine trial
5 years, 4 months ago

Flu shot: Universal influenza vaccine trial

CNN  

CNN — On June 24 at 11:34 AM, Michael Sonn became a part of medical history. That’s the day Sonn became one of the first people to receive an experimental flu vaccine that could one day radically change the shot you get every year. But a universal flu shot would theoretically cover every strain of the flu using what’s known …

People are getting paid to be infected with the flu
5 years, 5 months ago

People are getting paid to be infected with the flu

CNN  

CNN — It’s widely accepted that the flu and the torrent of uncomfortable symptoms that come with it are to be avoided at all costs. For a handsome sum of up to $3,300, 80 adult participants across four research facilities will receive a nasal spray with the virus and spend at least one week at an inpatient facility until they’ve …

‘Groundbreaking advance’ in flu treatment could save thousands of lives, research suggests
5 years, 5 months ago

‘Groundbreaking advance’ in flu treatment could save thousands of lives, research suggests

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Successful animal experiments of an antiviral drug which induces mutations in the genetic material of …

Flu is surging, and it's up to GPs and microbiologists to stay on top of the virus' changing nature
5 years, 10 months ago

Flu is surging, and it's up to GPs and microbiologists to stay on top of the virus' changing nature

ABC  

Each year, millions of influenza vaccinations are produced and injected in Australia and then, like clockwork, another batch is brewed and the cycle repeats. Key points: Experts say identifying new mutations of flu faster on a local level is the best way to improve immunity Flu this year is surging, with people presenting with flu-like symptoms at twice the five-year …

Tackling vaccine fears and misinformation key to preventing next pandemic, WHO says
6 years ago

Tackling vaccine fears and misinformation key to preventing next pandemic, WHO says

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Addressing misinformation about vaccines will be key to preventing the next …

Congress has pledged $1 billion to find one in 5 years - but health directors say it's not possible
6 years, 1 month ago

Congress has pledged $1 billion to find one in 5 years - but health directors say it's not possible

Daily Mail  

The US government has pledged $1 billion towards finding a universal flu vaccine in five years. That makes a universal flu shot unlikely Gary Nabel, chief scientific officer at Sanofi, which produces the flu vaccine, agreed. And last spring, Congress pledged $1 billion to researchers chasing the goal of a universal flu vaccine over the next five years. 'This historic …

What if a deadly influenza pandemic broke out today?
6 years, 4 months ago

What if a deadly influenza pandemic broke out today?

BBC  

What if a deadly influenza pandemic broke out today? Getty Images The World War One trenches proved to be a perfect breeding ground for Spanish flu For starters, the virus’ impact would depend on whether we caught it early enough to contain it, says Robert Webster, from the Department of Infectious Diseases at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “But it …

Must Reads: Scientists may have found the key ingredient for a universal flu vaccine, and it comes from llamas
6 years, 5 months ago

Must Reads: Scientists may have found the key ingredient for a universal flu vaccine, and it comes from llamas

LA Times  

Along with soulful eyes, endearingly long necks and warm fuzzy coats, llamas have a far less appreciated feature: They make an array of immune system antibodies so tiny they can fit into crevices on the surface of an invading virus. The resulting “multidomain antibody MD3606,” with its “impressive breadth and potency,” could confer protection against pretty much any strain of …

Are we ready for a pandemic almost 100 years after Spanish flu?
6 years, 9 months ago

Are we ready for a pandemic almost 100 years after Spanish flu?

The Hindu  

A 100 years ago, history’s worst known infectious disease outbreak of the Spanish flu occurred in 1918. The influenza virus H1N1 killed more than 50 million people and infected over 500 million people globally. Major gaps “We do not know what virus will cause the next pandemic, there is no way to rapidly develop and deploy an effective vaccine against …

Flu vaccine: Could this be a better way to build one?
7 years, 2 months ago

Flu vaccine: Could this be a better way to build one?

CNN  

Story highlights Scientists worldwide are seeking improved and universal flu vaccines In one new study, researchers turn to a mutant virus to design a vaccine CNN — As a deadly flu season continues to ravage the United States, scientists are scrambling to find new ways to fight the virus, including building vaccines that offer stronger protection against the most aggressive …

Google’s parent firm invests in UK company developing first ever universal flu vaccine
7 years, 2 months ago

Google’s parent firm invests in UK company developing first ever universal flu vaccine

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A private UK company developing …

Australia’s flu season has U.S. health officials bracing for a bad winter — and wishing for a new vaccine
7 years, 4 months ago

Australia’s flu season has U.S. health officials bracing for a bad winter — and wishing for a new vaccine

LA Times  

The influenza A virus known as H3N2 was the most common strain in Australia this past flu season. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned Wednesday that the United States could experience a “relatively severe influenza season.” If so, it would extend a run of bad luck that began in 2014, when …

Flu pandemic plans should be stepped up as number of virus strains jumps, researcher says
7 years, 11 months ago

Flu pandemic plans should be stepped up as number of virus strains jumps, researcher says

ABC  

A jump in the number of new flu strains means health authorities need to increase preparations for a pandemic. Key points: Increased risk pandemic-causing bird flu strain could emerge Measures need to focus on stopping viruses jumping from animal to humans Highest risk in low-income countries with rapid poultry commercialisation Research from the University of New South Wales shows, in …

Flu season over with one-shot influenza killing jab for LIFE
9 years, 10 months ago

Flu season over with one-shot influenza killing jab for LIFE

Daily Mail  

Breakthrough research by Australian scientists may have cracked the code to developing a single flu vaccine that will provide lifelong protection. Breakthrough research by Australian scientists may have cracked the code in developing a single flu vaccine that will provide lifelong protection University of Melbourne's associate professor Katherine Kedzierska says a discovery has been made on how flu-killing 'killer' cells …

American scientists controversially recreate deadly Spanish Flu virus
10 years, 9 months ago

American scientists controversially recreate deadly Spanish Flu virus

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Scientists said the study involved infecting laboratory ferrets with close copies of the 1918 virus …

Super-vaccine could eliminate need for annual flu jabs within five years after successful trials
11 years, 5 months ago

Super-vaccine could eliminate need for annual flu jabs within five years after successful trials

Daily Mail  

Super-vaccine could eliminate need for annual flu jabs within five years after successful trials New universal vaccine being developed by British and European scientists Job would provide lifetime immunity against all flu viruses First ever successful human trials have taken place Larger trails involving thousands of people now planned Researchers believe the new vaccine could be available in 2018 A …

Bird flu: How myopic govt burnt bridges with vaccine makers
11 years, 11 months ago

Bird flu: How myopic govt burnt bridges with vaccine makers

Firstpost  

The number of infections and deaths from bird flu in China is increasing, so is the mystery around its origin. Contrast that to what the Indian government has done: Burn its bridges with the local vaccine manufacturers, to the extent that Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of the Poonawalla group which includes Serum Institute, one of the largest pediatric vaccine manufacturers in …

Origins of new diseases: Zoonotic pandemics come from bats, birds, monkeys, cows, and other animals.
12 years, 3 months ago

Origins of new diseases: Zoonotic pandemics come from bats, birds, monkeys, cows, and other animals.

Slate  

Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world; yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. Other Wild Animals While bats appear to be responsible for a disproportionate amount of novel pathogens, every animal species carries its own unique microbiota—the collection of microbes that …

New broad-acting flu vaccine needed, says immunologist
14 years, 6 months ago

New broad-acting flu vaccine needed, says immunologist

The Hindu  

The global swine flu epidemic has shown how the world needs a new broad-acting vaccine with a “cross-reactive” antibody response that tackles viruses, an Australian immunologist has said on September 28. Nobel Laureate Professor Peter C. Doherty, from the University of Melbourne, said the H1N1 virus showed how a newly emerged flu variant could now spread person-to-person globally, aided by …

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