Vaccine to combat all types of flu 'by 2011'

January 3, 2008

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 " .

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