For decades, scientists have been trying to create a universal flu vaccine and recent reports claim they’re now closer than ever. It has been a difficult journey because the flu virus mutates into different strains, so vaccine developers are constantly playing a game of catch-up. The American scientists claim that if further research pans out, the vaccine could not only fight many types of conventional flu, but also fight the avian influenza as well as the virus responsible for the flu pandemic of 1918 that resulted in 50 million deaths.

The research comes from groups of scientists working in unison from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Burnham Institute for Medical Research. They’re findings were published in the Nature Structural & Molecular Biology journal.

The World Health Organization states that each year in the United States:
 ° 5% to 20% of the population get the flu
 ° more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications
 ° about 36,000 people die from flu

Considering these facts, the possibility of a universal flu vaccine is a welcomed thought.

Emily Holbrook
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