New year, new… flu?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Current influenza vaccines target a handful of specific strains each flu season. BUT individual flu strains change fast, and predictions can miss the mark. Is there a one size fits all solution?
Enter Vamsee Mallajosyula and team at Stanford. They COMBINED proteins from different flu strains for your immune system to recognize and attack.
And? This combo vaccine offered FIVE times STRONGER protection than current shots in mice. It even offered protection in HUMAN cells! This shot could mean BETTER protection against flu and FEWER updates each year.
No more seasonal predictions—this may be one shot to rule them all.
Or as Smeagol calls it: “My precious…”
Reference: Mallajosyula, V., Chakraborty, S., Sola, E., Fong, R. F., Shankar, V., Gao, F., Burrell, A. R., Gupta, N., Wagar, L. E., & Davis, M. M. (2024). Coupling antigens from multiple subtypes of influenza can broaden antibody and T cell responses. Science, 386(6728), 1389-1395.