Will a Universal Flu Vaccine Stop Future Pandemics?
5161
Disease & Illness > Cold & Flu
Mar 1, 2007
Richard Stooker
Will a Universal Flu Vaccine Stop Future Pandemics?
The only real hope to stop future influenza pandemics such as we're now facing from bird flu, is to develop a "universal" flu vaccine that innoculates us against all influenza viruses.
This would also eliminate the habit of giving people a new flu shot every Fall.
The European Union is funding a cooperative project called Universal Vaccine, to produce a vaccine capable of innoculating people permanantly against all Type A and B strains of influenza.
They plan to focus on the M2e, the extracullular domain of the ion channel protein M2 which is maintained in all A type influenza viruses. This ectodomain that protrudes from M2 is made up of 23 amino acids. Walter Fiers, co-inventor of the process said, "The structure of M2e is almost identical in all known flu viruses that can be transmitted between people."
Previous vaccines focus on the hemagglutin (H) protein and the neuraminidase (N) protein which are spikes that stick out from the fatty sheath surrounding the 8 compartments of the influenza virus. However, tests have shown that the M2 protein has remained relatively constant since the influenza virus was first isolated in 1933.
They plan to manufacture the vaccine using recombinant bacterial fermentation, which is quicker, cheaper and more effective than traditional egg growing influenza techniques.
They hope to begin human trials in early 2007.
Included in Universal Vaccine are: Arexis AB, Sweden; Pepscan Systems BV, The Netherlands; Proxima Concepts Ltd, England; Eurogentec SA, Belgium; Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology VZW (VIB), Belgium; and G?teborg University (UGOT), Sweden.
Merck is also working on a universal vaccine based on targeting M2.
The San Diego-based Vical Incorporated is working on a vaccine for H5N1 and believes it has latched on to the key to a universal flu vaccines. They focussed their vaccine on three bits of DNA: the H5 protein, the nucleoprotein (NP) and matrix protein which is also the M2.
Using the conserved internal protein nucleoprotein (NP) elicits a different kind of immunity. It's based on the type of T cell called a cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), rather than on antibodies. These CTLs kill cells infected with the influenza virus.
Rats and ferrets vaccinated with this vaccine not only survived exposure to H5N1, but to ordinary human flu viruses also.
The Israeli company BiondVax Pharmaceuticals has been working on a universal flu vaccine for two years. Their vaccine will be inhaled, and they expect it to provide protection against 95% of all influenza, including H5N1, and for that protection to last five years.
Their vaccine is based on 15 years of research by Weizmann Institute Professor Ruth Arnon. She worked on finding conserved epitopes, fragments of the outer virus shell that never change despite antigenic shift and drift. She found that the hemaggluttin hid a peptide that remains fixed.
BiondVax expects development time to take three to four years, though shorter if a bird flu pandemic hits.
"Dr. Arnon decided not to chase a specific strain of virus. She said 'let's identify the common components of all flu viruses, use genetic engineering to duplicate those common parts of the virus, and create a vaccine which - no matter what virus will come - will vaccinate you,'" said Devash one of the founders of BiondVax.
One thing we must understand about any universal vaccines based on the M2 protein, however, is that we can still get sick. That's because the M2 antibodies our bodies produce will bind to cells that're already infected and promote their clearance out of the body, but won't stop them from being infected in the first place.
That is, influenza viruses can still get into your body and infect your lungs. However, the infection cannot spread as readily. You can still get sick but probably won't die.
Vaccines targeting the internal NP neuroprotein have the same problem -- they promote the killing of already infected cells but not the prevention of infection.
This would also eliminate the habit of giving people a new flu shot every Fall.
The European Union is funding a cooperative project called Universal Vaccine, to produce a vaccine capable of innoculating people permanantly against all Type A and B strains of influenza.
They plan to focus on the M2e, the extracullular domain of the ion channel protein M2 which is maintained in all A type influenza viruses. This ectodomain that protrudes from M2 is made up of 23 amino acids. Walter Fiers, co-inventor of the process said, "The structure of M2e is almost identical in all known flu viruses that can be transmitted between people."
Previous vaccines focus on the hemagglutin (H) protein and the neuraminidase (N) protein which are spikes that stick out from the fatty sheath surrounding the 8 compartments of the influenza virus. However, tests have shown that the M2 protein has remained relatively constant since the influenza virus was first isolated in 1933.
They plan to manufacture the vaccine using recombinant bacterial fermentation, which is quicker, cheaper and more effective than traditional egg growing influenza techniques.
They hope to begin human trials in early 2007.
Included in Universal Vaccine are: Arexis AB, Sweden; Pepscan Systems BV, The Netherlands; Proxima Concepts Ltd, England; Eurogentec SA, Belgium; Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology VZW (VIB), Belgium; and G?teborg University (UGOT), Sweden.
Merck is also working on a universal vaccine based on targeting M2.
The San Diego-based Vical Incorporated is working on a vaccine for H5N1 and believes it has latched on to the key to a universal flu vaccines. They focussed their vaccine on three bits of DNA: the H5 protein, the nucleoprotein (NP) and matrix protein which is also the M2.
Using the conserved internal protein nucleoprotein (NP) elicits a different kind of immunity. It's based on the type of T cell called a cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), rather than on antibodies. These CTLs kill cells infected with the influenza virus.
Rats and ferrets vaccinated with this vaccine not only survived exposure to H5N1, but to ordinary human flu viruses also.
The Israeli company BiondVax Pharmaceuticals has been working on a universal flu vaccine for two years. Their vaccine will be inhaled, and they expect it to provide protection against 95% of all influenza, including H5N1, and for that protection to last five years.
Their vaccine is based on 15 years of research by Weizmann Institute Professor Ruth Arnon. She worked on finding conserved epitopes, fragments of the outer virus shell that never change despite antigenic shift and drift. She found that the hemaggluttin hid a peptide that remains fixed.
BiondVax expects development time to take three to four years, though shorter if a bird flu pandemic hits.
"Dr. Arnon decided not to chase a specific strain of virus. She said 'let's identify the common components of all flu viruses, use genetic engineering to duplicate those common parts of the virus, and create a vaccine which - no matter what virus will come - will vaccinate you,'" said Devash one of the founders of BiondVax.
One thing we must understand about any universal vaccines based on the M2 protein, however, is that we can still get sick. That's because the M2 antibodies our bodies produce will bind to cells that're already infected and promote their clearance out of the body, but won't stop them from being infected in the first place.
That is, influenza viruses can still get into your body and infect your lungs. However, the infection cannot spread as readily. You can still get sick but probably won't die.
Vaccines targeting the internal NP neuroprotein have the same problem -- they promote the killing of already infected cells but not the prevention of infection.
Article Source: http://www.articlerich.com
c 2006 by Richard Stooker Richard Stooker is the author of How to Protect Yourself and Your Family From Bird Flu and Bird Flu Blog
Write a Review
Add to My Favorite
Refer it to Friend
Report Article
Other links owned by this user
To the best of our knowledge, the history of chess started out in Northern India about 1500 years ago, where it was called turanga. There're allegations that it actually started in China, perhaps as long as 3000 years ago. So perhaps
Category:
Chess is a game of substitute war, so you will win more chess games by taking advantage of the ancient wisdom distilled from the art of military strategies. This includes a collection of strategies compiled in China at least 1,500 years
Category:
The only real hope to stop future influenza pandemics such as we're now facing from bird flu, is to develop a "universal" flu vaccine that innoculates us against all influenza viruses. This would also eliminate the habit of giving people
Category:
Why? During a bird pandemic you d remain as isolated from everybody outside your family as possible. Therefore, you d shop only for necessities: food, water, fuel and medicine. Where? Therefore, you
Category:
Somewhere in Southeast Asia (or Africa, the MidEast, Europe etc) . . . A hen clucks and shifts around in her perch. She sniffs and sneezes. Inside the lining of her respiratory tract and lungs, millions of influenza viruses
Category:
International travel has always had its special health challenges, but until recently most travelers were not afraid of anything worse than diarrhea. Bird flu's changed that. The bird flu H5N1 virus has now been found from
Category:
If nothing else, the bird flu scare should remind us not to take our immune systems for granted. According to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt, it'll take 6 months after a contagious strain of bird flu is
Category:
This article is for chess players who want to use their brains and knowledge at peak levels, to win more games, matches and tournaments. Therefore, you don't have to worry that I want you to find satori, enter nirvana, learn to levitate or
Category:
Yes, sure chess is good for developing he abiliy o hink, o reason, o ponder, o calculae and analyze. Sure i develops he abiliy o read and remember. To look and hink ahead, o carefully reason ou and foresee he consequences of acions and
Category:
How can you know whether your or a loved one ha bird flu or jut a cae of ordinary flu? That' not a imple quetion to anwer. Frankly, the only 100% way i to have body ecretion teted by a World Health Organization (WHO) laboratory
Category:
Your prospect is actively hiding from you. One of the biggest mistakes you can make when choosing a copywriter is to hire one the same way you'd pick a champion archer. In archery, you should look for the bowman with the
Category:
Hang a sign around your neck saying, "Kick Me" -- and someone will. Report to a job interview with scared eyes, a nervous voice and shoulders slumped with resignation -- and you're forcing the interviewer to reject
Category:
With current vaccine technology a vaccine cannot save us from a pandemic of contagious bird flu. Although criticized as fearmongering, the ABC made for TV movie First Contact: Bird Flu in America was overly optimistic. Neither us nor the
Category:
To prevent consumer fears, Kentucky Fried Chicken has started putting stickers on all their containers in the U.S. guaranteeing that their fried chicken is "rigorously inspected, thoroughly cooked, quality assured." From China to
Category:
You see a lot of wild and crazy ates for this. Yet, the truth is, there's no simple answer. It depends on a lot of things -- and the most important factors are still unknown. First of all, I don't put any stock in the simplistic
Category:
The bird flu virus can be compared to a monkey with a typewriter. And that's why it's getting more and more dangerous. You may have heard the old observation that if you give enough monkeys a keyboard, eventually one will -- just by
Category:
Bobby Fischer ate meat, cheese, hardboiled eggs and herring. Drank ice water, tomato juice and cola. Boris Spassky ate sandwiches and drank coffee and orange juice. Therefore, during their epic World Championship Chess
Category:
Bird flu won't stop terrorists, and a serious pandemic may encourage them to strike. Therefore, one more problem which policy makers in the world must watch out for is maintaining security. This will be hard enough when police, security
Category:
There's a new and so far lile-known way o cach bird flu. By waer. One major oubreak of bird flu among wild birds occurred in he middle of 2005 around Qinghai Lake, in China. Recenly, wild birds in ha area have again
Category:
If you want to trust you and your family's health to the government -- you deserve what happens to you. The United States Homeland Security Council in early May 2006 released a 233 page report called the Strategy for Pandemic Influenza
Category:
Other links at Disease & Illness > Cold & Flu
Wheher or no o ge a flu sho is one of hose quesions ha is debaed every year around he same ime ha Halloween decoraions sar showing up on people?s fron lawns. People will discuss he pros and cons of geing he flu sho on he bus, on
Category:
When your baby has a fever or cold, your first urge is to run right to the pediatrician. But, mild colds fevers are common, often don?t require a visit to the doctor, just some at home management. Here are some techniques to help manage colds
Category:
Every winter, there are many reasons to worry about the flu. This year we are doing the same thing, but to an even greater extent. Scientists and physicians have made many announcements, issued many reports, and given many speeches regarding the
Category:
Whether you're concerned about cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or simply losing weight, you want to eat a healthy diet and focus on foods that are high in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, and balanced in fats, carbs, proteins.
Category:
The only real hope to stop future influenza pandemics such as we're now facing from bird flu, is to develop a "universal" flu vaccine that innoculates us against all influenza viruses. This would also eliminate the habit of giving people
Category:
Site Sponsor
Directory Statistics
Articles: 68214
Categories: 501
Yahoo Entertainment
