Scientists from the United States were encouraged by the interim results of a study that tested a conceptually new influenza vaccine. They are hopeful that the new vaccine could be able to protect people from both seasonal and pandemic flu. According to Infectious Disease News the scientists are very excited about preliminary data that convincingly show the effectiveness of the drug in respect to stimulation of the protective and long-lasting immune response. The developers of the new vaccine suggest a stable pandemic influenza strains protection even after a single vaccination.

   The drug based on chimeric hemagglutinin (cHA) targets the conservative framework of hemagglutinin surface protein, but not its globular head. Hemagglutinin head, which binds the influenza virus to the host cells, is exposed to modern influenza vaccines. However, it constantly mutates, which leads to the need to update the composition of seasonal vaccines. On the other hand, the conservative framework remains more or less stable.

   To evaluate the drug, a randomized blind multicenter first-phase study was carried out in healthy adults aged 18 to 39 years. According to the scientists, the new drug turned out to be cross-reactive for both the currently circulating human influenza virus and the subtypes of bird flu and bat infection.

   Source: HEALIO