University of Washington School of Medicine researchers are hoping to one day offer an alternative to the annual flu shot: a DNA vaccine. The vaccine could offer long-lasting protection from all flu virus strains. A DNA vaccine could instruct a person’s skin cells to generate antigens and induce antibodies and T cell responses to fight the flu, according to UW Medicine. A gene gun device could inject the vaccine right into skin cells. With the universal vaccine, people might not have to get a flu shot every year.
The DNA vaccine is able to get around genetic changes in flu strains by “using genetic components of influenza virus – the conserved areas – which do not change,” according to UW Medicine. The DNA vaccine doesn’t just repel a virus but finds infected cells and kills them. The research team tested the vaccine on primates, and found T cell responses were so fast the primates just did not get sick.
This universal vaccine could be ready for rapid deployment in case of a deadly pandemic flu strain, and has a production time of around three months as opposed to the nine months required for the United States-approved vaccine for flu season. The DNA-based approach could also offer a mechanism for vaccines for other viruses like Zika.
The vaccine could still be five to 10 years away – UW Medicine said that’s about as long as it takes from promising laboratory results to commercial viability.
Universal DNA vaccine could make yearly flu shots a thing of the past [Inhabitat]