Soniktts t1_iwpt25p wrote on November 17, 2022 at 1:20 PM

I feel as if we're always hearing about an "All in One Vaccine" for the flu that will no longer require tweaking based on the prevelant strains that year. Those articles are a dime a dozen especially since the emergence of Covid.

Is there every any truth in those?

Do you think we'll ever reach a point in medical science where that could be achieved?

haley_bridgewater t1_iwrizir wrote on November 17, 2022 at 8:27 PM

>It's totally possible! Scientists have been working on this for years and have some promising candidates being tested in humans right now. Below is some more information that I compiled for another question and here is a good article on one of the universal flu vaccines.
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>The current influenza vaccines vaccinate against the active binding sight (head) of the hemagglutinin. This is on of the the spots that mutates every year. The
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>universal influenza vaccine vaccinates against the stalk of the hemagglutinin. This portion of the virus does not rapidly change. There are a number of universal vaccines in clinical trials. These clinical trials ensure the vaccine is effective and safe before it reaches the market. If the vaccines that are currently in clinical trials meet the high standards, we might see a universal flu vaccine in the near future.

FluFighterDrJB t1_iwr8tng wrote on November 17, 2022 at 7:20 PM

At this time, CDC is participating in a broad inter-agency partnership coordinated by BARDA (https://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/planning/nivms/Pages/default.aspx) that supports the advanced development of new and better flu vaccines. These efforts already have yielded important successes (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/advances.htm#vaccine-advances). Part of this effort is the eventual development of a “universal vaccine” that would offer better, broader and longer-lasting protection against seasonal influenza viruses as well as novel influenza viruses. This task poses an enormous scientific and programmatic challenge, but a number of government agencies and private companies already have begun work to advance development of a universal flu vaccine.