Spanish scientists have made progress in two prototypes of universal flu vaccine order that they are effective against all strains of the disease. To do this, they have used in the vaccine epitopes T and have used bioinformatics to predict how humans act before them.
The results of research of these scientists were recently published in the journal Bioinformatics and those responsible are from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Lancaster University and the University of Aston, the latter two in the UK.
Influenza is an acute viral infection that spreads easily from one person to another; There are three types of seasonal influenza (A, B and C) and vaccination is the most effective way to prevent it, remember the World Health Organization (WHO) on its website. However, due to the high capacity of the virus strains vary as their change every year, the vaccine must be updated and administered each year.
Vaccines change every year
It is published annually by WHO recommendations on the content of the vaccine, which is made mostly from cultivated in embryonated chicken eggs virus.
The flu vaccines, like others, act ‘teaching’ the immune system fight later the virus: when a person will get a vaccine, the immune system recognizes as “foreign” components of it, the combat and develops a new type of immunity that would then protect against future infections. During this process, the immune system recognizes and memorizes parts of the virus.
However, this choice does not have to be the most appropriate. In fact, the influenza virus changes / mutates precisely the parts that are preferentially recognized by the immune system.
“Therefore, we have a universal vaccine against influenza, but every year you have to prepare specific for the subtype of the virus is expected to be prevalent,” says Efe Pedro Reche, one of those responsible for the work .
