A new flu vaccine which protects against all strains of influenza has had promising results in trials.
Researchers say the vaccine's promise of universal protection could help contain a flu pandemic as it protects against all strains of influenza A, the type invariably responsible for pandemics.

B-strains, which are found only in humans, may cause epidemics but have never caused pandemics.

The vaccine apparently has a significant advantage over existing ones in that it does not have to be reformulated each year to match the prevalent strains of flu and it can be produced by cell culture.

It could therefore easily be stockpiled and used as soon as a pandemic strain emerges.

To date results in human volunteers have shown that the Acam-Flu-A vaccine made by Acambis is safe and produces an immune response against a small protein (peptide) called M2e that is found on the surface of all A-strains of the flu virus.

The vaccine was also tested on ferrets, which are often used in flu research because they are susceptible to human and bird flu.

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[link to www.news-medical.net]