Some Good News: Scientists Are Now Testing Out a Universal Flu Vaccine In People

There is a race to get a universal flu vaccine. Up to 100 adult volunteers will be involved in a phase I clinical trial of a potential candidate. The vaccine appeared to protect animals from fatal flu strains.

Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases are developing a vaccine candidate called BPL-1358. There are four strains of bird flu that aren't thought to be very bad, but are weakened and made unable to replicate.

The promise of a universal buffer against the flu was suggested in trials with both animals. Some of the flu strains that mice were able to survive were not covered by the vaccine.

Our seasonal flu vaccines have to be updated every year. They only provide modest protection against the flu, in part because the strains circulating in the world continue to evolve and don't look like the ones that were in the vaccine months earlier. The challenge is that they don't induce an immune response in the mucus-filled regions of our nose, throat and lungs, which is an important aspect of fighting off respiratory viruses.

The vaccine can be delivered as a spray or shot. Volunteers between the ages of 18 to 55 will be recruited to participate in the vaccine trial. One group will receive a vaccine as a shot, another will receive a placebo shot, and the final group will receive a placebo shot. After about seven months, the groups will be monitored and tested for diseases.

The purpose of phase I trials is to test the safety of a new drug. The samples collected from volunteers will allow researchers to get a sense of whether BPL-1358 can induce a broad and durable immune response in people. It is possible that one method is better than the other.

These kinds of immune responses can be elicited by vaccines. If BPL-1357 can deliver on its potential, it may be able to protect us from the seasonal flu, as well as future strains that could threaten to become the next Pandemic. Since other universal flu vaccine candidates have crashed and burned over the years, it will take time to know if BPL-1358 is the real thing. By early next year, the trial is expected to be finished.