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By Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer
Published: 08/14/2013 03:32 PM EDT on LiveScience
A good strategy for developing a universal flu vaccine may be to try to mimic the body's natural immune response to a pandemic flu virus, a new study suggests.
The researchers wanted to examine changes in the immune system that result from a lifetime of exposure to flu viruses, so they analyzed blood samples from 40 people, ages 35 to 70, over a 20-year period.
Participants who had been exposed to two particular strains of pandemic flu viruses -- H2N2 in 1957, and H1N1 in 1977 -- had increased levels of special immune proteins called broadly neutralizing antibodies.
Broadly neutralizing antibodies target a region of the flu virus called the "stalk,", which varies little between flu strains (in contrast, another region, called the "head," changes frequently).
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Published: 08/14/2013 03:32 PM EDT on LiveScience
A good strategy for developing a universal flu vaccine may be to try to mimic the body's natural immune response to a pandemic flu virus, a new study suggests.
The researchers wanted to examine changes in the immune system that result from a lifetime of exposure to flu viruses, so they analyzed blood samples from 40 people, ages 35 to 70, over a 20-year period.
Participants who had been exposed to two particular strains of pandemic flu viruses -- H2N2 in 1957, and H1N1 in 1977 -- had increased levels of special immune proteins called broadly neutralizing antibodies.
Broadly neutralizing antibodies target a region of the flu virus called the "stalk,", which varies little between flu strains (in contrast, another region, called the "head," changes frequently).
...
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