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Influenza is no longer the scourge it once was thanks to modern medicine, and specifically, annual vaccination efforts. The flu vaccine isn?t perfect, though. Influenza mutates rapidly, which means a new vaccine formulation is needed every year. An international team of researchers has identified a new antibody that might give us the edge in this yearly arms race. It bypasses the constantly changing surface markers and attacks a different part of the virus membrane.
So why is influenza such a tricky virus to vaccinate against? The virus has a jumble of proteins on its surface called hemagglutinin and neuraminidase that is uses to enter cells. The pattern of these proteins is different in every strain of influenza, which allows it to evade your immune system even if you?ve been infected with the flu before. Basically, you don?t have antibodies that recognize the new patterns on the virus (known as antigens) until you?ve encountered the new strain.
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So why is influenza such a tricky virus to vaccinate against? The virus has a jumble of proteins on its surface called hemagglutinin and neuraminidase that is uses to enter cells. The pattern of these proteins is different in every strain of influenza, which allows it to evade your immune system even if you?ve been infected with the flu before. Basically, you don?t have antibodies that recognize the new patterns on the virus (known as antigens) until you?ve encountered the new strain.
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