One vaccination will protect against many types of flu

the Flu is a heavy burden of humanity. The world health organization reported that respiratory infections annually kill up to 650 thousand people.

Vaccination helps to reduce the incidence and number of severe cases of the disease. However, vaccinations have to do every year. The fact that the virus is constantly mutating, allowing it to return to a new, more infectious or more lethal form.

According to many experts, a new flu epidemic, which will cover the whole country (called pandemics), in such a situation is inevitable and a new global outbreak – it is only a matter of time.

not surprisingly, the microbiologists and geneticists around the world are seriously concerned with finding a means to prevent severe infections, especially dangerous for the weak, the elderly and children.

the Ineffectiveness of modern strategies for the prevention of epidemics of influenza is that the main component of many modern vaccines is hemagglutinin protein.

It is used as an antigen and “teach” the immune system to recognize similar protein of the virus, allowing the body to find and destroy the causative agent.

But this protein extremely quickly mutates, and the vaccine that was effective last year, will be useless in the next. Therefore, the seasonal influenza vaccine is necessary to constantly modify and vaccinated to repeat annually.

Experts from the University of Georgia decided to remedy this situation and approached the problem from the other side.

a New vaccine, offered by the researchers of the laboratory of Bao-Zhong Wang (Bao-Zhong Wang), is a nanoparticle consisting of two proteins of influenza virus that previously, scientists special rates did not.

One of them, the M2e protein is found in all influenza virus strains and differences in its structure among different pathogens are almost there. In addition, М2е very slow mutating.

the Second protein, the enzyme neuraminidase, also evolyutsioniruet much slower dother viral proteins and “lives” on the surface of different influenza viruses.

Using these substances, the experts have created a double-layered nanostructure, in which the M2e core is coated with neuraminidase.

Test the resulting vaccine, as usual, carried out on laboratory rodents. The drug was administered intramuscularly twice with an interval of four weeks. Then “vaccinated” mice infected with six different viruses.

Studies of blood serum of Guinea, carried out 21 days after vaccination showed that the immune system of the animals were fully prepared and actively defended rodents from all six strains of the virus.

Scientists emphasize that the proposed combination is a versatile tool for prevention of influenza. Moreover, the drug, “focused” on a slowly mutating virus proteins, eliminates the need for seasonal vaccinations.

by the Way, further tests showed that the vaccine retains its effectiveness. Mice do not have the flu even after four months after the immunization.

“the Combination of antigens of animals provided strong cross-protection against different strains of influenza virus. Every season comes a new influenza virus, and we hope that the vaccine of the nanoparticles will be able to protect people from the most different virus strains,” says one of the authors of scientific work E Wang (Wang Ye) in the press release of the University.

Now the researchers continue to Refine their “double-layer” of the vaccine. As reported on the University website, in the next step, the researchers plan to load the drug in mikrovolny patches for painless vaccination through the skin.

However, on how soon the specialists will proceed to test the vaccine on humans, information yet.

a Detailed description of the development of American scientists published in Advanced Healthcare Materials.

we will Add that earlier the authors “Conduct.Science” (nauka.vesti.ru) told me about the first DNA vaccine against all strains of the virus flu and also a special genetic test that shows whether the human flu shot. We wrote about the diet that protects against this seasonal disease.

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Text: To.Science