Health

Scientists working on 'universal' flu vaccine that could last years

By Mallika Marshall, MD

Updated on: May 17, 2023 / 6:04 PM EDT / CBS Boston

BOSTON - Wouldn't it be nice to get a flu shot that could last for years? Researchers are actively working on a so-called "universal" flu vaccine.

Currently, scientists have to predict which flu strains will be circulating in the fall and winter and select which ones to include in the annual flu shot. Some years it works well, other years not so much.

The National Institutes of Health has developed an experimental universal flu vaccine which would, in theory, protect us against a wide variety of flu stains and hopefully provide long-term protection so we wouldn't have to get vaccinated every year. Duke University has begun enrolling patients in a phase 1 clinical trial of the experimental shot, which will determine whether it's safe and whether it can induce an immune response against the flu.

This vaccine uses messenger RNA like the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines. Another type of universal flu vaccine is also under investigation.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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