It’s one of the many first world problems that come along with the winter season.  If you work in the right industry or have the right combination of age and health problems, you go to the grocery store or pharmacy and get a flu vaccine.  That shot protects against the most common strains of flu, but that means there are a lot of flu viruses that the shot won’t save you from.  Remember swine flu?  Exactly.  Well, British scientists have created a universal flu vaccine.  That’s right, one jab, no flu of ANY kind.

“Fewer of the people who were vaccinated got flu than the people who weren’t vaccinated,” said Sarah Gilbert, the lead researcher of the study at Oxford University.  “We did get an indication that the vaccine was protecting people, not only from the numbers of people who got flu but also from looking at their T-cells before we gave them flu.  The volunteers we vaccinated had T-cells that were activated, primed and ready to kill.”

The crucial change between the universal virus and the standard flu virus is that the new virus targets the proteins inside the flu itself, not the proteins on the outside of the flu.  rather than producing antibodies against normal strains of the flu, the generic virus stimulates T-cell production to attack every immune disruption more aggressively.  So congratulations, Mr. Popular, you’re now safe to socialize flu-free.

Tags: universal flu vaccine, Sarah Gilbert, Oxford University, unusual health news, vaccinations, vaccination against all strains of flu, generic flu vaccination, vaccines, new flu vaccine targets flu virus proteins, flu virus news, new flu vaccine protects against all flu strains

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