One shot to protect against all strains of flu is now a reality. The omni-flu shot was tried on humans in Britain with success. It is designed to strike at the proteins that are shared among all viruses, instead of just those held by a certain strain of virus, Oxford researchers explained.
It had not been previously tested in humans, but has the potential of protecting nearly one billion people worldwide against all flu’s, including the notorious swine flu. The result would be that the vaccine could be manufactured year-round. There would be no need to hurry to create the vaccine for this year’s circulating variety of flu.
It normally takes four months to manufacture vaccines, meaning that many fall ill and die during the time of waiting for it. £1.2 billion was shelled out to get ready for the swine flu by the government last year. The new vaccine would prevent any shortages at any time of the year.
When you get the new vaccine you will only have to receive it once every ten years, like with tetanus. Currently you must get the flu shot each year.
Director of Jennifer Institute at Oxford, Adrian Hill, said, “The issue with the seasonal flu is that there are so many kinds and each type continues to morph into something new. When a flu appears from a population of animals, that infects humans, such as has happened from birds and pigs, we have to develop a new vaccine, but we cannot manufacture it quickly enough.”
A medical microbiologist at Kingston University, Mark Fielder, responded to the Daily Mail, “You cannot imagine how great this discovery may be. It is a milestone in our fight against the flu and many other diseases.”
