According to research published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, a discovery that could help scientists develop better vaccines and prepare for future Pandemics as pharma firms race to update their shots.
New Covid vaccines might have the key to it.
Rhesus macaque monkeys are capable of generating a more comprehensive immune response to coronaviruses than humans.
The macaques produced broad-acting antibodies when they were given a vaccine against the virus that causes Covid-19.
The scientists said the antibodies target part of the virus that stays the same across many different coronaviruses and is less likely to change over time, something that could open the door to new vaccines that work against multiple Covid variant.
Dennis Burton, who chairs the department of immunology and microbiology and is one of the co-senior authors of the study, said it is important to consider the genetic differences between macaques and humans.
Burton said that the differences highlight the limitations of studying the effects of vaccines in monkeys.
Vaccines are usually developed in hindsight due to the changing nature of the pathogens. These shots are used to target known threats or those that experts think will be threats by the time the shots are needed. The vaccine may not be produced fast enough if experts make incorrect predictions. Much of the world's daily activities were suspended as experts rushed to produce a vaccine against the new virus. The vaccine based on the original Covid strain is highly effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death, though their ability to prevent new infections has waned with the advent of new variant and drugmakers are rushing to test new formulas addressing them. The need for retooling vaccines in the future could be eliminated by a pan-coronaviruses vaccine.
The pan-coronaviruses vaccine could help protect against other threats. There is overwhelming evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 has crossed over into humans from an animal in a wet market in China. Experts warn of the risk that other pathogens pose when jumping the species barrier because of the similarities between coronaviruses. Tens of thousands of people are exposed to bat coronaviruses each year, according to research. If the conserved part of the virus is present there, it could help protect against these unknownviruses.
Efforts to make better coronaviruses vaccines are struggling.
Thousands of people are exposed to bat coronaviruses every year.
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