Possible Universal Vaccine

Corkfeen

A two-step flu vaccine using DNA to "prime" the immune system and then a traditional seasonal influenza vaccine may be able to protect against all strains of the virus -- providing a long-sought "universal" flu vaccine, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

The team at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is already testing the new vaccine in people and says the results of tests in mice, ferrets and monkeys suggest the industry may finally be able to dump the cumbersome process of making fresh flu vaccines every year.

"This is the first step, conceptually, toward a good shot at a universal vaccine," NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a telephone interview.

Every year, the influenza strains that are circulating mutate a little bit and at any given time several very different strains are infecting people. In some years a new mutant pops up -- such as the new H1N1 swine flu strain that appeared in March 2009 to spark a pandemic.

Vaccine makers have to change their formulations every year to match the current strains. To make matters worse, virtually all flu vaccines are made using decades-old technology based on chicken eggs that is both slow and prone to contamination.

So the goal is to come up with a universal influenza vaccine that could protect people from all flu strains for decades or even for life.

NIAID's Dr. Gary Nabel said his lab has taken a big step toward this goal. Their method, described in the journal Science, starts with a piece of DNA based on the hemagglutinin protein -- a mushroom-shaped structure on the outside of the virus that gives flu strains the "H" in their names.

The DNA directs the body to make antibodies against a part of the flu virus that is normally hidden -- on the "stem" of the hemagglutinin protein. This part is conserved, meaning it does not change from flu strain to flu strain.

OLD AND NEW STRAINS

Vaccinated mice and ferrets produced antibodies that protected them against flu strains from 1934 through 2007.

"We are excited by these results," Nabel said. "The prime-boost approach opens a new door to vaccinations for influenza that would be similar to vaccination against such diseases as hepatitis, where we vaccinate early in life and then boost immunity through occasional, additional inoculations in adulthood."

The vaccine, which uses DNA from Netherlands-based Crucell NV, "looks pretty safe," Fauci said. "They are already well into, at least a full year into, a Phase 1 trial."

Such trials are meant to see if a new drug or vaccine is safe in people. A larger, Phase 2 trial could start next year, Fauci said.

Seasonal influenza kills 250,000 to 500,000 people a year globally, including 36,000 in the United States. Pandemics often kill more and while H1N1 has not been especially deadly, it has killed far more children, young adults and pregnant women than seasonal flu usually does.

The experimental vaccine protected animals against H5N1 bird flu, as well. While avian influenza only rarely infects people, it has killed 296 of the 500 sickened by it since 2003.

Flu experts fear H5N1 could mutate and cause a pandemic far worse than swine flu and, using current vaccine technology, it will take months to formulate a good vaccine against it. Swine flu made its spread global within six weeks.

Dozens of companies make influenza vaccines, including Sanofi Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, AstraZeneca and CSL.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66E7BM20100715

T'would be great not having to hear the same ****e every year about another form of flu......

recylingbin

Flu experts fear H5N1 could mutate and cause a pandemic far worse than swine flu

Oh God, NOOOOOOO!. Something worse than swine flu? Like, dare I say it, a bad cold?

drunkmonkey

It'll never happen, there's no money in cures!

laugh

I'v never had the flu, you just need to clone me and do away with the rest of the human race.

recylingbin

laugh wrote: »

I'v never had the flu, you just need to clone me and do away with the rest of the human race.

Go where there are people.

CreepingDeath

This is a joke.

The pharmaceutical companies made billions on the exaggerated swine flu hysteria, now they're rolling out this pack of lies to bump up their share price.

They fooled us once, not again.

Brendog

seriously ....think about it. Its not going to happen!

so i guess I'll throw the question back ACHOO to answer:D

mikom

Corkfeen wrote: »

Possible Universal Vaccine

Why would anyone want to vaccinate a tractor?

Zombienosh

vaccines for everyone...... no way. smells dodgy. maybe it comes with a free microchip?

DrumSteve

*awaits run to da hills photoshop*

Weird, one of the funds in work invests in those companies.. The fukers must be hoping for a pandemic.

syklops

Have they not seen Mission Impossible II?

AnonoBoy

Jim Corr where are you now when we need you the most?




Oh wait - here he is

A Primal Nut

drunkmonkey wrote: »

It'll never happen, there's no money in cures!

:rolleyes:
How do you explain all the existing vaccines then?

syklops

A Primal Nut wrote: »

:rolleyes:
How do you explain all the existing vaccines then?

Many are ordered and often paid for by the government.

TheZohanS

Corkfeen wrote: »

Possible Universal Vaccine

I have it, only works on the ladies though.....aweeeee yeahhhhhh.

petes

CreepingDeath wrote: »

This is a joke.

The pharmaceutical companies made billions on the exaggerated swine flu hysteria, now they're rolling out this pack of lies to bump up their share price.

They fooled us once, not again.

There are a lot of people that are not in this "us" you speak of!

Idiots.

ancapailldorcha

I smell a rat.
They never referenced the original research publication. I've tried looking it up to no avail. It's not even listed on the author's home page.
The findings are probably blown out of all proportion as well. Some of you might remember this from The Sun who had a 2 page feature on it with a headline describing it as a new AIDS vaccine.

gurramok

Will it help manflu sufferers?

up for anything

No time to waste here. Heading to conspiracy forum.

conorhal

"Life will find a way"

I'd not be too optimistic, when we discovered antibiotics we thought that we'd finally conquered the microbe, how wrong we were, and now ,as we run out of effective antibiotics, the microbe is back and more agressive than ever, jaysus these days the thought of going into a hospital is often scarier than the injury that brings you there.

I wonder how the flu will adapt to this challenge?

Howard the Duck

recylingbin wrote: »

Oh God, NOOOOOOO!. Something worse than swine flu? Like, dare I say it, a bad cold?

Although not as bad as expected a lot of people died from swine that wouldn't have died from normal flu. A number of people with CF died for instance. It annoys me when people act as if it was nothing.

SugarHigh

drunkmonkey wrote: »

It'll never happen, there's no money in cures!

A vaccine isn't a cure.

BaconZombie

FUD!!!!!

IvySlayer

I've never really been affected by the cold/flu. Even when my whole family where sick, I remained healthy.

Let the body do it's work, don't take paracetemol/other 'medicines' as this only gets rid of the symptoms not the infection. Runny noses may be annoying but the snot is actually mucous designed to trap and kill bacteria/viruses! Coughing pushes it into the stomach, where the acid will kill it muahahahaha. Or the body may expel it

GLaDOS

It's hardly universal, it's just for flu...

Poor Uncle Tom

I saw the title and thought the Universe needed a shot....:D

My name is URL

I'd trust the nastiest of flu viruses more than I would the suits selling the idea of a vaccine

ancapailldorcha

My name is URL wrote: »

I'd trust the nastiest of flu viruses more than I would the suits selling the idea of a vaccine

This attitude does my head in. Don't trust the suits, look for well-conducted trials and trust those.

My name is URL

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

This attitude does my head in. Don't trust the suits, look for well-conducted trials and trust those.

Look for the ghost writers that big-pharma companies employ to document the findings of those trials

look for the conflicts of interest that transcend the entire industry

sligopark

Corkfeen wrote: »

A two-step flu vaccine using DNA to "prime" the immune system and then a traditional seasonal influenza vaccine may be able to protect against all strains of the virus -- providing a long-sought "universal" flu vaccine, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

No thanks

http://www.fightbackh1n1.com/2009/08/who-memos-1972-explains-how-to-turn.html

ancapailldorcha

My name is URL wrote: »

Look for the ghost writers that big-pharma companies employ to document the findings of those trials

This article doesn't mention which papers were written by ghostwriters so I assume that they weren't published in any of the high impact journals.

My name is URL wrote: »

look for the conflicts of interest that transcend the entire industry

I heard this alright, though swine flu was NOT harmless. Just because the only people who died had underlying conditions like Cystic Fibrosis like Howard the Duck said doesn't mean it was nothing. It certainly wasn't the end of the world pandemic the media cracked it up to be but the media ultimately exist to sell themselves. Whether or not the WHO's handling of the "pandemic" was motivated by the greed of big Pharma doesn't change that fact.

ancapailldorcha

sligopark wrote: »

No thanks

http://www.fightbackh1n1.com/2009/08/who-memos-1972-explains-how-to-turn.html

This has to be the worst thing I have ever read on the internet. The WHO references cited do not once mention that the vaccines were intentionally designed to kill people.

recylingbin

Howard the Duck wrote: »

Although not as bad as expected a lot of people died from swine that wouldn't have died from normal flu. A number of people with CF died for instance. It annoys me when people act as if it was nothing.

There's no such thing as 'normal flu'. Flus always kill people.
Swine flu was no different.

gurramok

recylingbin wrote: »

There's no such thing as 'normal flu'. Flus always kill people.
Swine flu was no different.

Still no cure for Manflu then?:)

recylingbin

gurramok wrote: »

Still no cure for Manflu then?:)

rest, whinging and someone to wait on me hand and foot normally gets me back on my feet within 2 weeks. 3 weeks if the service is really good.

gurramok

recylingbin wrote: »

rest, whinging and someone to wait on me hand and foot normally gets me back on my feet within 2 weeks. 3 weeks if the service is really good.

Damn you have a good nurse

Howard the Duck

recylingbin wrote: »

There's no such thing as 'normal flu'. Flus always kill people.
Swine flu was no different.

Of course it was different. Most people who died from it were from a younger age bracket than the people who normally die from the flu. People in their teens and early twenties died. to say it was no different is a pretty stupid remark.

caseyann

And this is how they will do it Dont take it

recylingbin

Howard the Duck wrote: »

Of course it was different. Most people who died from it were from a younger age bracket than the people who normally die from the flu. People in their teens and early twenties died. to say it was no different is a pretty stupid remark.

US:
3 March 2010 -- As of 12 February 2010, According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is estimated* that since the beginning of the pandemic, the US has had approximately 57 million cases of A-H1N1/09 Pandemic Swine Flu and approximately 11,690 resulting deaths..

In comparison, the CDC and World Health Organization (WHO) have estimated that with seasonal flu, "we see over 30 million cases in the United States. We see 200,000 hospitalizations and, on average, 36,000 deaths." (During the entire fall and winter flu season.)

FACTOID!

SugarHigh

caseyann wrote: »

And this is how they will do it Dont take it

Do what?

This fear of vaccines is really dumb and it seems like half the people in this thread don't even know what a vaccine is. You're just luck heard immunity exists.

Their are people not giving vaccines because they listen to conpiracy theorists instead of scientists.

SugarHigh

recylingbin wrote: »

FACTOID!

You're completely missing the point that all the fear about swine was what it could eventually mutate into.

pvt6zh395dqbrj

My hero, Michael Scofield, had a disease that made him not only see the lamp but also all the different bits of the lamp. Then he started getting nose bleeds when he planned things because his mother got them too. A baldy man told him he could cure him and he did but then Michael walked into an electric fence.

Any time I think about medicene I think of Michael and how the cure couldn't stop him from walking into electric fences. I think we can learn alot from that.

caseyann

SugarHigh wrote: »

Do what?

This fear of vaccines is really dumb and it seems like half the people in this thread don't even know what a vaccine is. You're just luck heard immunity exists.

Their are people not giving vaccines because they listen to conpiracy theorists instead of scientists.

You are all gonna die Its new world order the plan has begun,make you either die or part alien zombies

Getting shot guns ready

Howard the Duck

recylingbin wrote: »

FACTOID!

Thanks for your fantastic FACTOID. I never said that swine killed more people than the seasonal flu. I was merely pointing out that your first post comparing swine flu to a "really bad cold" was a very silly remark. Where is your FACTOID on really bad cold deaths?

drkpower

Howard the Duck wrote: »

Thanks for your fantastic FACTOID. I never said that swine killed more people than the seasonal flu. I was merely pointing out that your first post comparing swine flu to a "really bad cold" was a very silly remark. Where is your FACTOID on really bad cold deaths?

Also, recyclingbin missed your important point (in fact, your central point) that the demographic most significantly affected by swine flu was the young. That was why there was far more concern. The flu does and always has killed old people in massive numbers (so do many things) but the change in target demographic to the young was very concerning.

And of course, comparing numbers of dead is not especially helpful when there was a relatively massive take-up of swine flu vaccine in the US and elsewhere following the initial cases. A takeup far in excess of what would be expected for the regular swine flu. This almost certainly resulted in a huge decrease in overall cases and in deaths.

ancapailldorcha

Noah Magnificent Dimple wrote: »

My hero, Michael Scofield, had a disease that made him not only see the lamp but also all the different bits of the lamp. Then he started getting nose bleeds when he planned things because his mother got them too. A baldy man told him he could cure him and he did but then Michael walked into an electric fence.

Any time I think about medicene I think of Michael and how the cure couldn't stop him from walking into electric fences. I think we can learn alot from that.

The tumors came back.

recylingbin

SugarHigh wrote: »

You're completely missing the point that all the fear about swine was what it could eventually mutate into.

All flus mutate.

Howard the Duck wrote: »

Thanks for your fantastic FACTOID. I never said that swine killed more people than the seasonal flu. I was merely pointing out that your first post comparing swine flu to a "really bad cold" was a very silly remark. Where is your FACTOID on really bad cold deaths?

Surely number of deaths is the only way to judge how severe a flu is?
I looked for stats on people who were a bit miffed by it, but there doesn't seem to be any.

drkpower wrote: »

1: Also, recyclingbin missed your important point (in fact, your central point) that the demographic most significantly affected by swine flu was the young. That was why there was far more concern. The flu does and always has killed old people in massive numbers (so do many things) but the change in target demographic to the young was very concerning.

2: And of course, comparing numbers of dead is not especially helpful when there was a relatively massive take-up of swine flu vaccine in the US and elsewhere following the initial cases. A takeup far in excess of what would be expected for the regular swine flu. This almost certainly resulted in a huge decrease in overall cases and in deaths.

1: A flu isn't made by Apple. It doesn't have a target demographic.

2: Yet the stats say that more people contracted it but fewer people died.
Maybe they were administering a retro vaccine on the sly.

Howard the Duck

recylingbin wrote: »

All flus mutate.


1: A flu isn't made by Apple. It doesn't have a target demographic.

2: Yet the stats say that more people contracted it but fewer people died.
Maybe they were administering a retro vaccine on the sly.

drkpower wrote: »

Also, recyclingbin missed your important point (in fact, your central point) that the demographic most significantly affected by swine flu was the young. That was why there was far more concern. .

drkpower never mentioned a "target demographic" they are your words.

Your original post compared swine flu to a bad cold and not seasonal flu. It seems your really bad cold has it's self mutated into seasonal flu.

recylingbin wrote: »

Oh God, NOOOOOOO!. Something worse than swine flu? Like, dare I say it, a bad cold?

My problem is with this post. A lot of people died from swine flu most of them young adults living normal lives. It was a scary thought that a young person living a healthy life can catch a flu and die. I don't know many people who are scared of catching a cold but there were plenty scared of catching the swine flu. If it wasn't for the vaccine a lot more people would have died. Maybe not as much as we were made to believe.

drkpower

recylingbin wrote: »

Surely number of deaths is the only way to judge how severe a flu is?
I looked for stats on people who were a bit miffed by it, but there doesn't seem to be any. .

Do you know what morbidity is?

recylingbin wrote: »

1: A flu isn't made by Apple. It doesn't have a target demographic.

2: Yet the stats say that more people contracted it but fewer people died.
Maybe they were administering a retro vaccine on the sly.

1. Any disease process has a target demographic (not that i used that precise term), or if you prefer, a cohort of the population which are more susceptible to the disease process.
2. Because it affected the young proportionately more than the old; of course, the overall deaths would be less. The young tend to be more resileient than the old, suprise surprise.

Do you understand any of this stuff?

recylingbin

Howard the Duck wrote: »

drkpower never mentioned a "target demographic" they are your words.

7th and 8 th last words od his first paragraph
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=66993361&postcount=46

Your original post compared swine flu to a bad cold and not seasonal flu. It seems your really bad cold has it's self mutated into seasonal flu.
Sarchasm, it's the new thing. But I don't think it's going to catch on.



My problem is with this post. A lot of people died from swine flu most of them young adults living normal lives. It was a scary thought that a young person living a healthy life can catch a flu and die. I don't know many people who are scared of catching a cold but there were plenty scared of catching the swine flu. If it wasn't for the vaccine a lot more people would have died. Maybe not as much as we were made to believe.

Most of them died from underlying conditions, not the flu.
People were scared because of the tremendous job the media did in blowing it out of proportion.
It was a flu, nothing more, nothing less.
The stats bare this out.