People Who Recovered From H1N1 Offer Clues to Better Vaccine.

They appeared to develop
antibodies against many
strains, study finds
MONDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- The H1N1
swine flu pandemic last winter offers clues about
how to create a vaccine that can protect people
against multiple strains of influenza, U.S.
researchers say.
They found that people who were infected with
the H1N1 virus and recovered had a special
immune response, producing antibodies that
protect against a wide variety of flu strains.
The virus matched typical influenza strains only in
components that are vital for the virus to
function, and the immune response to those
components overlapped prior influenza
exposures, explained the research team, from the
University of Chicago and Emory University in
Atlanta.
Creating a vaccine that triggers an immune
response against these critical flu virus
components, they said, could eliminate the need
to predict seasonal flu strains and quickly mass-
produce a vaccine every year.
The finding is "something like the Holy Grail for flu
vaccine research," according to Patrick Wilson, an
assistant professor of medicine at the University
of Chicago.
"It demonstrates how to make a single vaccine
that could potentially provide immunity to all
influenza," Wilson said in a University of Chicago
Medical Center news release. "The surprise was
that such a very difficult influenza strain, as
opposed to the most common strains, could lead
us to something so widely applicable."
The study was published in the Jan. 10 issue of
the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
The H1N1 flu pandemic during the winter of
2009-2010 infected about 60 million people and
led to the hospitalization of more than 250,000
people in the United States.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases has more about influenza.


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