Today I would like to talk to you about a very important news for all Humanity: “Spanish scientists are moving towards the universal flu vaccine with the help of bioinformatics”.
Spanish scientists have succeeded in advancing two prototypes of universal influenza vaccine, in order to be effective against all strains of the disease. To do this, they have used T-epitopes, in vaccines, and have used bioinformatics, to predict how humans would act on them.
Two prototypes of influenza vaccine
The results of the research, by these scientists, have been published recently in the journal Bioinformatics and its leaders are from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), the University of Lancaster and the University of Aston, the latter two in the United Kingdom.
Influenza is an acute viral infection, that is easily transmitted from one person to another; there are three types of seasonal flu (A, B and C) and vaccination is the most effective way to prevent it, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), on its website. However, because of the high ability of viruses to vary, since their strains change each year, the vaccine must be updated and administered every year.
A new strain of influenza
It is the WHO, that annually publishes recommendations on the content of the vaccine, which is mostly made from viruses grown in embryonated hen eggs.
Influenza vaccines, like others, act by "teaching" the immune system to fight the virus later: when a person is given a vaccine, the immune system recognises the components of the vaccine as "foreign", it combats them and develops a new type of immunity, that protects you against future infections. During this process, the immune system recognises and memorises certain parts of the virus.
However, this choice does not need why be the most appropriate. In fact, the flu virus precisely changes / mutates those parts, that are primarily recognised by the immune system.
"Therefore, we do not have an universal vaccine against influenza, but every year we have to prepare a specific one, for virus subtype, that is expected to be prevalent", Pedro Reche (one of those responsible for the work). emphasises to EFE.
And then how to create an universal vaccine? .This researcher from the UCM points out that instructing the immune system, to focus on small fragments of the virus, that are susceptible to be recognised --we call them epitopes-- and that are invariant. Specifically, the researchers propose a formulation of an universal vaccine, using T-epitopes.
These are small fragments of the virus, capable of being recognised by T lymphocytes, essential leukocytes in the containment and elimination of viral infections.
The T-epitopes, used in the formulation of these vaccines, have been experimentally validated by independent research groups.
"Curiously, although these epitopes are recognised by the human immune system, not everyone recognises the same T- epitopes", Reche stresses. He adds: “A key part of our work has been the use of computational models, to predict which individuals might recognise a particular epitope”.
Thus, they have managed to design two different formulations, for two universal vaccines, that have not yet been tested, in clinical trials; Scientists are contacting different pharmaceutical companies, to develop inoculations.
According to Reche, the ascertainment of its efficacy, in animal models, would be complicated, but perhaps it is not necessary: the T- epitopes, used in this study, are capable of inducing the immune response, in humans, and could be directly tested, in a clinical trial.
The T-epitopes would represent the active component, but it would have to be supplemented with other components, among others.
Vaccines protection coverage would be 95%, in the US population, and among 88% and 97%, in the rest of the world. The variation, in these percentages, is due to the genetic distinctions, between humans; in particular, the variability is found in molecules related to the immune response.
Stages of the Inmune Response
For Reche, this work is a great advance, in the achievement of a universal vaccine --there are several research groups, working in this direction--; but, still "several years are away".
Well, I hope that researchers make the most of those years to commercialise a single vaccine, to make many people have a more confortable life, all over the world.
Until my next post, kind regards,
Luis.
Sponsored by Costaluz Lawyers.
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