Universal flu jab one step closer after breakthrough

Scientists may have discovered the "Achilles' Heel" of the flu virus, moving one step closer to a universal vaccine that could eliminate the need for annual booster shots as the virus continues to mutate over time.

The report alleges that antibodies present in the blood of some vaccinated people could protect against multiple strains of the virus that may target long-ignored strains of influenza, as reported on December 23 by researchers at Scripps Research, the University of Chicago and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

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The team have identified sites vulnerable to antibodies that target a large number of strains of flu, which could allow for the design of vaccines that could be less impacted by mutations of the virus or for the development of therapeutic drugs.

"It's always very exciting to discover a new site of vulnerability on a virus because it paves the way for rational vaccine design," said Andrew Ward, PhD, professor of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology at Scripps Research and the report's co-author.

"It also demonstrates that despite all the years and effort of influenza vaccine research there are still new things to discover", he added.

With the rise of restrictions to tackle coronavirus, flu transmission rates have been relatively low, according to the CDC, with only 818,939 cases being tested in US laboratories between May 2020 and September 2021. The firm reports vaccine coverage in the 50 states and DC ranges from 20-60% for this season - averaging at 43.4%.

The disease kills around 1,500 people on average per year in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Official government data suggests flu jab rates have increased since the onset of the pandemic, particularly in the over-65s, although flu activity is expected to increase in 2022, with the 2021-2022 winter period expected to be the first where both diseases will co-circulate.

The World Health Organisation's (WHO) latest influenza report, published on December 20, 2021, has suggested caution when reporting flu numbers due to the coronavirus, but has also suggested measures to tackle both viruses simultaneously.

Typically, around 20 million people become infected with influenza annually in the US, which could lead to as many as 20,000 deaths. Flu jabs typically coax out antibodies to tackle the proteins that extend from the surface of the virus.

The new study conducted by the joint research team has identified 358 different antibodies present in the blood of people who had either been given a seasonal influenza vaccine, which recently went through phase I clinical trials.

"In order to increase our protection from these highly mutating viruses, we need to have as many tools as we can", said Julianna Han, one of the co-first authors of the study, adding the discovery of these antibodies adds another weapon to the arsenal of immunologists tackling the virus.

The report's other co-first, Jenna Guthmiller, said the human immune system already has the capabilities to make similar antibodies, with it just being a matter of applying modern protein engineering methods to make a vaccine that can "induce those antibodies in sufficient numbers".

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The researchers claim future efforts and improved vaccines could create "anchor antibodies" - antibodies that attach to the virus - a notion often overlooked by scientists, they suggest. Ideally, future variants would protect against multiple sections of a virus. 

The team are already planning future looks into developing a prototype vaccine that could be used to tackle different strains of the virus.

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