Re: Vaccine to combat all types of flu 'by 2011'

[Guest guest]

I shall believe it when I see it made and proven to be effective.

>

> Vaccine to combat all types of flu 'by 2011'

> By Highfield, Science Editor

> Last Updated: 10:53pm GMT 03/01/2008

> A vaccine to protect against every strain of influenza, the virus

> behind bird flu, winter flu and pandemics, could be available

before 2011.

>

> A Cambridge-based company, Acambis, today reports two preliminary

> trials of a universal vaccine, saying it could be ready within three

> years if development was accelerated to deal with a pandemic.

>

> Current flu vaccines work only against specific strains and because

> they mutate frequently there are concerns about whether a vaccine

> could be prepared in time to combat a pandemic strain of the kind

that

> killed up to 50 million people in 1918.

>

> The new vaccine focuses on parts of the virus that do not mutate,

> eliminating the need for a new version every year.

>

> Tests on ferrets, which model human disease accurately, suggest that

> this vaccine called Acam-Flu-A can protect against deadly influenza

> strains including H5N1, the type of bird flu seen in poultry in East

> Anglia last year.

>

> Dr , executive vice-president at Acambis, said:

> " Acam-Flu-A can potentially overcome many of the drawbacks of

existing

> influenza vaccines.

>

> " It can be manufactured at any time of the year and could be

> stockpiled in advance of a pandemic or potentially used routinely to

> ensure population protection against future pandemics. "

>

> All three 20th century pandemics were caused by viruses related to

> avian flu.

>

> The World Health Organisation has issued a statement saying that,

as a

> result of the lethal H5N1 strain, the world was " closer to a further

> pandemic than it has been at any time since 1968 " .

> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?

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