‘Extraordinary breakthrough’: Scientists make ‘Holy Grail’ universal flu vaccine discovery

Published time: 20 Feb, 2019 11:52 Edited time: 20 Feb, 2019 11:55

Australian scientists have discovered immune cells that can fight all known flu viruses and mutations in what has already been branded an “extraordinary breakthrough” which could lead to the creation of a universal vaccine.

Scientists at the Doherty Institute and Monash University studied 67,000 viral sequences and narrowed them down to three sequences which are common across all strains of the influenza virus, which haven’t mutated for the past century.

They then identified so-called “killer T cells” found in over half the world’s population, which act like the body’s own private security, identifying abnormalities and infections and killing them.

Harvesting and replicating these cells could lead to the production of an all-in-one flu shot which would only be administered once a decade or possibly once in a lifetime.

https://www.rt.com/news/451969-holy-grail-universal-flu-vaccine/