Discovering ways to prevent the flu without a vaccine.

Scientists believe they have just discovered a way to trigger a natural response in the body that could fight the flu virus without the need for a vaccine.

A newly discovered method holds promise for helping humans eliminate influenza without the need for vaccines. (Illustration: Corbis)

A new method of preventing influenza doesn't require the use of viruses (in vaccines) or interferon—a powerful anti-inflammatory agent. Test results on both mouse and human cells reveal that manipulating the body to produce a specific protein could reduce the severity of influenza and ultimately prevent infection in general.

Because the method doesn't specifically target any particular strain of influenza virus, researchers believe it has the potential to combat all strains of influenza, including those that could trigger pandemics.

Dr. Jacob Yount from Ohio University (USA), the lead researcher, said: "Influenza vaccines need to change annually because the virus is constantly mutating. What we are doing is targeting a more fundamental process, not specific to any particular virus strain."

After discovering that altering the role of a protein in cells could prevent the influenza virus from manifesting, Dr. Yount and his colleagues began using the experimental drug to test their influenza prevention strategy on mice. According to Yount, it will take many more years before this method can be applied to humans, but their long-term goal is to develop a vaccine-free method of preventing influenza infection.

The research team added that their method involves increasing the levels of a protein that has been shown to be effective in fighting every strain of influenza tested. However, the key to preventing infection is increasing the levels of that protein in cells before the virus manifests. The scientists found that to achieve this, they need to inhibit the function of another protein.

The protein effective in fighting influenza is called IFITM3. Under natural conditions, this protein is produced in large quantities only after the influenza virus appears, so that it can reduce the severity of infection. However, the way this protein attacks the virus, by trapping it and disabling its ability to create copies of itself, means that increasing its levels before the flu appears can prevent infection.

IFITM3 has been recognized as crucial to humans, as previous research has shown that it is the only identified protein containing a gene mutation frequently associated with severe influenza infections.

According to vietnamnet