{"id":1987272,"date":"2019-02-19T13:45:01","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T18:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/?p=1987272"},"modified":"2019-02-19T13:45:01","modified_gmt":"2019-02-19T18:45:01","slug":"flu-vaccine-killer-immune-cells-1987272-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/flu-vaccine-killer-immune-cells-1987272-2\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Killer cells’ could lead to one-time flu vaccine"},"content":{"rendered":"
“Killer immune cells” can actually fight all strains of the influenza virus, report researchers. The finding could potentially lead to a universal, one-shot flu vaccine.<\/p>\n
In the battle against the flu, these killer immune cells are like the body’s border control.<\/p>\n
The white blood cells remember previous exposure to a flu strain and if they recognize an invader, they start an immune response to target and kill off the virus\u2014stopping the infection.<\/p>\n
But the three types of influenza virus that can infect humans\u2014strains A, B, and C are problematic. They circulate in the human population globally, and mutate every flu season.<\/p>\n
The virus is smart. It mutates in order to hide from our immune system, which means every year we have to have an annual flu vaccination against these new strains. These mutations can also occur when the virus transmits between humans and animal hosts, like birds.<\/p>\n
Strain A is usually associated with flu pandemics, while both A and B are associated with annual influenza epidemics. The less common strain C can be responsible for severe illness in children.<\/p>\n
Outbreak in China<\/h3>\n
Despite hopes that scientists could use the “memories” of killer cells (formally known as CD8+T cells) to create a vaccine that would last for life, previous studies have shown that these cells could only mount a repeated attack against strain A.<\/p>\n
“Our team has been fascinated by the killer cells for a long time,” says Katherine Kedzierska, a professor at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity at the University of Melbourne and lead author of the paper in Nature Immunology<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n