Instead, the COVID virus is more akin to the influenza virus, which mutates constantly and confers only short-term immunity.
Both COVID and the flu require new and different vaccine formulas aimed at defeating newly circulating variants of the viruses.
But what if it were possible to protect against COVID and the flu, and other unknown viruses that haven’t yet emerged, with just one shot?
The new vaccine technology proposed in this paper would still use a live, modified version of a virus.
Current flu vaccines are only recommended for infants over the age of six months.
This intriguing report arrives at a moment when the bird flu virus, known as H5N1, has reportedly begun to spread among cattle.
No avian flu vaccines have yet been approved for use in humans, however, although several are under development, none have been approved for use in humans yet.
Ding said the vaccine his team is developing could be a contender: “That’s what we’re aiming for.
Like with illnesses like measles or mumps, many people believed that vaccinations against the virus or infections with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, would provide long-lasting lifetime immunity at the start of the pandemic. The influenza virus, which only offers temporary immunity and is subject to frequent mutation, is more like the COVID virus. To combat newly circulating virus variants, new and distinct vaccine formulations are needed for both COVID and the flu. For the majority of us, this has inevitably led to a rise in vaccine fatigue.
However, imagine if it were possible to receive protection from COVID-19, the flu, and other viruses that are still unknown and could be prevented with a single dose; seasonal or yearly booster shots would become obsolete. What if there was no need for a needle at all for these vaccinations?
While those scenarios might seem far-fetched, researchers at the University of California, Riverside think they might come to pass in the next five to ten years. A novel vaccine approach based on RNA may prove efficacious in combating any future viral strain, as demonstrated by a recent publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Theoretically, this next generation of vaccines could safely protect against viruses that we aren’t even aware of yet. It could also be administered to infants and individuals with weakened immune systems, who currently frequently have to forego vaccination in order to maintain their health.
This new RNA-based technology would rely on a “second immune system” response and target a region of the viral genome shared by all virus strains, according to the research paper.
Shouwei Ding, lead author of the paper and distinguished professor of microbiology at UC Riverside, told Salon over the phone, “We have a very strong reason to believe that all these other human viruses, like dengue virus and COVID-19, produce a protein that we can target to make a vaccine.”. “We just need to find the protein that can suppress RNAi” in order to combat any future viruses. “.
This is the subject Ding was referring to. Conventional vaccinations function by teaching the body to identify and fight against particular molecules present on a given pathogen. To educate the immune system, live-attenuated vaccines, for instance, frequently employ a weakened virus. The body’s immune system becomes accustomed to identifying the antigen and builds immunity to it once the virus has taken on a weakened form.
A different kind of vaccine, called “viral vectors,” builds immunity by giving cells a blueprint to follow instead of a piece of the pathogen. MRNA vaccines, such as the most well-known COVID-19 vaccines, work by utilizing a synthetic form of single-stranded RNA to build an individual mRNA within the body. This produces cells with the ability to make proteins akin to those in viruses, which in turn primes the immune system to combat illness before it gets into the circulation.
This paper presents a new vaccine technology that would continue to use a live, modified virus. However, the production of T-cells and memory B-cells by the body as part of the conventional immune response would not influence its efficacy. As an alternative, it would generate proteins—which are produced by all viruses—that obstruct a pathogen’s RNAi reaction.
Using a virus known as Nodamura, researchers tested their theory in mice. The test vaccine was administered to the mice once, and even though they were devoid of T and B cells, they were immune to the virus for at least ninety days.
Researchers believe that this new vaccine technology will be crucial in the fight against bird flu: “We are actively seeking funding to do just that.”. “.
The same team of UC Riverside researchers demonstrated in a 2013 paper that RNAi molecules are also produced by humans during flu infections. The development of a universal, one-time-use influenza vaccine that is safe for very young infants is the next step, according to Ding. Currently, only infants older than six months are advised to receive the flu vaccination. In addition, the new vaccination would probably be administered as a spray. No-needle vaccinations might eventually become commonplace, as Salon has previously reported.
At a time when the H5N1 bird flu virus is supposedly starting to spread among cattle, this fascinating report is released. At least one verified human case has also been reported. It’s possible that bird flu could spread to other countries, but as Salon has reported, infectious disease experts do not believe it will happen this year. A virologist told Salon that she would immediately advise the public to get vaccinated against bird flu. There are several avian flu vaccines being developed, but none that have been authorized for use in humans as of yet.
“That’s what we’re aiming for,” Ding stated in reference to the vaccine his team is developing. For precisely that reason, we are actively looking for funding. “.
According to Ding, one of the additional implications of this new vaccine technology could be faster protection than is currently the norm. He said, “What we find is that you are already fully protected two days after the shot.”. The current vaccination schedule frequently takes two weeks or longer to take effect, which is bad news for infections that are just starting to spread. “.
According to Ding, his group hopes to have a vaccine candidate prepared for human clinical trials in roughly a year. After that, the traditional regulatory would likely take 5 to 10 years — although a new public health emergency, like the COVID pandemic, could speed that up considerably.
