More than 150 million Americans have the flu shot each year to try and protect themselves against the dreaded illness. That’s a lot of dosages of medicine and can take as long as six months to produce once the targeted flu strain has been decided upon. The trouble with this is that even the experts get it wrong sometimes which can cause major problems. In 2009, a strain of influenza called H1N1 emerged that the prepared influenza vaccine wasn’t able to beat, and more than 18,000 people died as a result. However, that number is simply a confirmed amount, when the true figure is more likely to be closer to 150,000 deaths. So, will there ever be a “one shot does all” kind of injection for all different types of flu virus?
With influenza being the cause of most major pandemics over the past century, one would hope so. But then if it were that easy, surely it would have been done by now? We discovered long ago that infection conferred immunity against disease. For example, those who contracted small pox would not come down with it again, and similarly, those who were immunized against certain diseases would not suffer from them again. So, why do people need to get immunized against influenza each year? It’s not because the flu shot is weak in any way, but because the influenza strain changes so often.
Each virus is made up of its own membrane that holds constantly mutating genetic material. Inside the membrane are two types of spikes called hemagglutinin (HA), and neuraminidase (NA) and each has its own head and stem. Typically vaccines will set to work by targeting these molecules through antibodies. But for vaccine developers, it’s tough to always have an adequate flu vaccination available because of how rapidly HA and NA change. Each year epidemiologists still manage to forecast which flu strains will more likely affect which populations.
Scientists have now discovered a process called rational design and are a different, yet effective way to design a vaccine. The end goal is to design an immunogen that can produce sufficient antibodies without being exposed to the virus. If they can master this, it will inevitably change the world of vaccinology as we know it. But for the moment, it’s unlikely that we will see a “one shot does all” influenza shot and can only hope scientists can stay ahead of the viruses enough to keep us safe for yet another year.
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