- The NIH is enrolling patients in an early-stage clinical trial to test a universal flu vaccine based on mRNA technology.
- The technology is behind Moderna’s and Pfizer’s widely used Covid vaccines.
- Scientists hope the vaccine will protect against different types of flu and provide long-term protection so people don’t have to get vaccinated every year.
A woman receives a booster shot of the Moderna coronavirus disease (Covid-19) at a vaccination center in Antwerp, Belgium on February 1, 2022.
Johanna Geron Reuters
Patients are being enrolled in an early stage clinical trial to test a. Universal flu vaccine Based on messenger RNA technology, the National Institutes of Health announced Monday.
Scientists hope the vaccine will protect against different types of flu and provide long-term protection so people don’t have to get vaccinated every year.
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is the technology behind Moderna’s and Pfizer’s widely used Covid vaccines. NIH played a critical role in developing the mRNA platform used by Moderna.
“Universal flu vaccination can serve as an important line of defense against future flu outbreaks,” said Dr. Hugh O’Chincloss, acting director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The global flu vaccine trial will enroll up to 50 healthy people ages 18 to 49 to test whether the experimental vaccine is safe and produces an immune response, according to the NIH.
The study involved participants receiving a quadrivalent flu vaccine that protects against four types of virus to compare the experimental universal vaccine with those currently on the market.
The universal shot was developed by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The clinical trial is enrolling volunteers in Durham, North Carolina.
The current generation of flu vaccines provide significant protection against hospitalization, but the effectiveness of vaccines can vary from year to year.
Scientists must predict which strains of influenza will dominate months in advance, so vaccine manufacturers have time to develop vaccines before the respiratory virus season.
The main types of influenza can change between the time the experts select the strains and the time the manufacturers roll out the shots. In some seasons, the shots don’t fit well with the swing tension and are less effective as a result.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, when flu vaccines are well-matched to the circulating strains, they reduce the risk of illness by 40% to 60%. But in some years the vaccine effectiveness was as low as 19% because the vaccine was not well matched.
Between 2010 and 2020, the flu will kill between 12,000 and 52,000 people in the U.S., according to the CDC, depending on the severity of the flu and the number of shots.