WASHINGTON - An experimental vaccine provided broad protection against all 20 known influenza A and B virus subtypes in initial tests in mice and ferrets, potentially opening a pathway to a universal flu shot that might help prevent future pandemics, according to a US study published on Thursday.
“The idea here is to have a vaccine that will give people a baseline level of immune memory to diverse flu strains, so that there will be far less disease and death when the next flu pandemic occurs,” said study leader Scott Hensley of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
The vaccine reduced signs of illness and protected from death even when the ferrets were exposed to a different type of flu not in the vaccine, the researchers said.