A Long-Lasting Flu Vaccine? Researchers Working on Shot You Need Every Few Years – The Messenger

Wouldnt it be nice to not have to get a flu shot every single year?

Researchers at Duke University and Harvard University have spent the past seven years working to develop a universal flu vaccine that would only need to be administered every few years.

They say it could potentially provide unprecedented protection against the virus.

What weve done is just simply ask the question: Is it possible to make an antibody that would bind to all sorts of flus, not just the flu of the season, Garnett Kelsoe, an immunology professor at Duke University School of Medicine, told WRAL-TV in North Carolina.

In December, the team of researchers published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences about discovering a group of antibodies in humans and some animals that target all types of influenza. They gave mice the antibodies before injecting them with the flu.

You can give the mice hugely lethal doses of influenza virus, and the mice survive, Kelsoe said. In fact, they dont really get sick at all.

Researchers have a ways to go before a universal flu vaccine could be ready for the general publics use. Over the next two years, theyll begin testing their findings on primates. If that proves successful, human trials could be next.

Kelsoe said hes encouraged by the idea that a universal shot could take out the guesswork of predicting which flu strain will be the dominant one in any given year. He also hopes a single shot to protect against all flu strains could combat vaccine hesitancy.

If a shot is really good and it lasts for multiple years, you have great faith that its terrific, he said. If you have to get a shot every year and its only about 50% effective, that reduces peoples faith. One of the goals of the universal vaccine is to regain peoples faith and the efficacy of vaccines.

Only about 40% of Americans have received their flu shot this season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last year, 31 million Americans were sick with the flu while 21,000 died, the CDC estimates.

In the meantime, Kelsoe urges people to get their annual flu shots a sentiment the CDC shared just yesterday when it issued its annual list of vaccination recommendations for 2024.

Even the vaccines that are not 100% effective reduce sickness and significantly reduce death, Kelsoe said. Theyre very, very valuable.

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A Long-Lasting Flu Vaccine? Researchers Working on Shot You Need Every Few Years - The Messenger