Hum Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 The first antibody which can fight all types of the influenza A virus has been discovered, researchers claim. Experiments on flu-infected mice, published in Science Express, showed the antibody could be used as an "emergency treatment". It is hoped the development will lead to a "universal vaccine" - currently a new jab has to be made for each winter as viruses change. Virologists described the finding as a "good step forward". Many research groups around the world are trying to develop a universal vaccine. They need to attack something common to all influenza which does not change or mutate. Scientists from the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill and colleagues in Switzerland looked at more than 100,000 samples of immune cells from patients who had flu or a flu vaccine. They isolated an antibody - called FI6 - which targeted a protein found on the surface of all influenza A viruses called haemagglutinin. Sir John Skehel, MRC scientist at Mill Hill, said: "We've tried every subtype of influenza A and it interacts with them all. "We eventually hope it can be used as a therapy by injecting the antibody to stop the infection." more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Great! Hopefully it won't have bad side effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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