New vaccine ‘protects against 88% of all flu strains across the world’
Experts at Lancaster University say the jab could consign the flu season to the history books and protect against future global pandemics
We have all endured the hell that is a bout of flu.
That tell-tale sore throat, followed by the sniffles, a cough, aches and pains.
But, the misery of the winter flu season could soon be consigned to history, experts hope.
They believe a new universal flu vaccine could prevent outbreaks, and protect against future global pandemics.
The jab could give protection against 88 per cent of known flu strains across the world.
And, scientists say in the US the injection could protect against 95 per cent of cases.
Dr Derek Gatherer, of Lancaster University, said: "Every year we have a round of flu vaccination, where we choose a recent strain of flu as the vaccine, hoping that it will protect against next year's strains.
"We know this method is safe, and that it works reasonably well most of the time.
"However, sometimes it doesn't work - as in the H3N2 vaccine failure in winter 2014-2015 - and even when it does it is immensely expensive and labour-intensive.
"Also, these yearly vaccines give us no protection at all against potential future pandemic flu."