Health Discovery: Outfoxing the Flu Bug

Vial photo by Kim Komenich/San Francisco Chronicle/Corbis; Pedestal photo by iStockphoto

Scientists may have found a way to outwit the wily flu virus, an advance that could lead to a single vaccine providing long-term protection against several flu strains, even bird flu.

Because the flu virus changes genetic makeup every year, vaccines provide only short-term immunity. But researchers have identified artificial antibodies that can inactivate a stable part of the virus so it doesn’t infect host cells.

“It’s good science,” says immunologist Philip Askenase, M.D., of Yale University, but adds there may be a loss of a broader immunity without the yearly vaccine.

The research was published in the March issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 

Nissa Simon, who lives in New Haven, Conn., writes about nutrition and medical issues.