Two studies support new universal flu vaccine approach

Separate studies published in Science and Nature Medicine provide proof of concept for a new universal influenza vaccine strategy. The papers show stabilized forms of the hemagglutinin stem, a highly conserved region of the influenza antigen, protect against multiple viral subtypes in animals.

Most antibodies elicited against influenza recognize the hemagglutinin head region, which is subject to the antigenic drift responsible for viral evasion from seasonal vaccines. Inducing antibodies against the conserved stem region gets around the problem. ...