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Medicine

Human Trial of mRNA Universal Flu Vaccine Begins 266

A Phase 1 trail of a universal mRNA-based influenza vaccine is under way at Duke Unversity in Durham, North Carolina. It's being developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' (NAID) Vaccine Research Center (VRC). New Atlas reports: Some 50 participants aged 18-49 will be split into three groups and given 10, 25 and 50 micrograms of the active drug, respectively. When optimal dosage is then determined, another 10 participants will get this measured jab. There will also be an additional group who will receive a current quadrivalent seasonal flu shot, so researchers have a comparative dataset that takes into account the immune response and safety of readily available influenza vaccines. Those in the trial will then be regularly evaluated over 12 months to see how the drug's immune response has fared and to assess its short-term and long-term safety.

This trial comes after the initial NIAID's Vaccine Research Center study on the safety and immune response of the H1ssF (H1 hemagglutinin stabilized stem ferritin) nanoparticle vaccine. The Phase 1 trial, from April 2019 to March 2020, delivered broad antibody responses in the 52 participants aged 18-70. The results of the trial were published last month in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The H1ssF vaccine targets the flu protein hemagglutinin. One section of this protein -- the 'head' -- changes as the virus evolves into different strains, but the stem of the protein is much slower to be altered and remains fairly constant throughout influenza mutations. The researchers believe herein lies the key to a long-lasting, effective universal preventative vaccine. The new trial combines the H1ssF nanoparticle vaccine with messenger RNA (mRNA) as the platform, with the end goal that it'll deliver a more efficient, targeted immune response.
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Human Trial of mRNA Universal Flu Vaccine Begins

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  • by LeeLynx ( 6219816 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @02:09AM (#63527715)
    If we didn't need to worry about COVID because it was "just a little flu", what will we start dismissing the flu as?
    • by Bad Ad ( 729117 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @02:16AM (#63527721)
      "It's just a bad cold"
      • by Q-Hack! ( 37846 )

        For those who dislike the mRNA vaccines, this is actually a good thing. This vaccine will have to go through all the testing at the normal (slow) rate. It will be fully vetted before it's released for general public use. If there is a problem with the mRNA vaccines, it will show up in testing of the influenza variant.

        • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @11:25AM (#63529175)

          The mRNA vaccine isn't as new as we think. It was studies for about 20 years prior to it being released for the Covid vaccine.
          It wasn't used previously, not from general safety issues, just that traditional vaccines had their infrastructure in place, and its general slower time to develop matched the demand for it.

          Covid spread very rapidly. where mRNA allowed for a faster deployment (as it didn't need to grow the virus), as well it allowed the information to be send to be created without needing a sample of the virus.

    • by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:19AM (#63527851)

      I would say it is a discriminator. Stupid people should have a higher risk of dying and the flu actually kills quite a few stupid people each year. This will make the gap larger. Good.

      • Unfortunately it mostly kills people that already have bred ... so if one believes in genetics being the main influence for IQ ... it is a bit late for them to catch the Flu and die to it.

      • What passes for "insightful" these days, some weird sort of "Kill those people I don't agree with" nonsense? SHould they arrogant die as well?
        What bothers everyone about the COVID go round was the lack of information that was glossed over in favor of "Everyone must get the shot!". Whether is was hysteria, or ridiculing people (which you're doing) or general lack of information being hidden for fear of people not wanting to get immunized, it turned into a self fulfilling prophecy because of this.
        Personal ane
    • Simple (Score:5, Funny)

      by Roger W Moore ( 538166 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:24AM (#63527863) Journal
      Flu is just like a mild case of COVID.
      • Re:Simple (Score:5, Insightful)

        by sg_oneill ( 159032 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:40AM (#63527893)

        Probably. Although physiologically the two viruses couldnt be any more different. I do wish Covid minimizers would actually look at how Covid works, and what the ACE2 receptor does, why its chaotic to mess with it, and why anything that basically floods the body with micro blood-clots is really not a virus one should take lightly.

        Not to minimize the flu. That things an indiscriminate vandal with plenty of deaths (on a regular year sometimes even more thanks to it being savagely dangerous to people with COPD) as well, but it really doesnt function the same way at all, other than making immune systems lose their shit and create inflamatory responses that make us feel like hell.

      • Flu is just like a mild case of COVID.

        Well, I've never heard of "long flu". Also, some people die of the flu, while some people are only mildly ill with Covid and may actually be asymptomatic. So I think chronic health problems and death rates are probably more useful criteria than severity of illness.

        • Well, I've never heard of "long flu"

          You hadn't heard of it, but not enough research had been done into post-viral syndromes and post infectious illness syndromes before COVID. The only similar thing most people have heard of is Mononucleosis from EBV infection but it's not the only one. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is likely under the same umbrella and is often dismissed as not even being real except to the people that have it.

          However, I think flu is way down on the list as a potential cause. COVID causes it in such big numbers that it is actu

        • I've never heard of "long flu".

          the internet still exists [google.com], HTH HAND

          Also, some people die of the flu, while some people are only mildly ill with Covid and may actually be asymptomatic.

          Also, some people die of Covid, while some people are only mildly ill with the flu and may actually be asymptomatic [passporthealthusa.com].

          It's not clear what you thought you were proving there, since you already showed you didn't care enough to use a simple web search to remedy your ignorance?

    • by fazig ( 2909523 )
      "Just allergies" I'm throwing in there.
      It's not like those people ever care about evidence and logic. I mean just look at some of the comments here. The steady defunding of the public education system and being replaced by media that sees itself as having no duty to the truth but instead pursues maximizing views is bearing its fruit.
      • Look I get allergies for about 1 week a year after I'm at parties and around others with allergies. I'm not sure what the big deal is.

  • Vaccines on Slashdot (Score:5, Informative)

    by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:02AM (#63527811)
    I love watching these tête-à-têtes unfold on Slashdot. Sciency people re-stating what the best available evidence & expert analyses say to anti-vaxers spouting pseudo-science & conspiracy theories that they heard on Youtube or TikTok or wherever. Every time. Never fails. It must be like like pushing a button for the Slashdot editors.
    • by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:28AM (#63527873)

      It has one good aspekt: It reminds sane, educated people how many completely fucking clueless morons are out there. If only learning to read and write (such as they can) was much harder. The ancient Chinese may have been on to something with their system of writing...

      • At least in reading, we have a fairly good idea of which countries tend to be better at providing the basics to their citizens' children: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] The rankings may be somewhat surprising. One (of many) common factors is type of instruction. Countries that typically prefer direct instruction methods (AKA "traditional" teaching) tend to score higher in literacy. In Anglophone countries in particular, whether or not they adopt systemic synthetic phonics (SSP) in early literacy instruct
      • It's fascinating to watch people with some level of intelligence mix dogma and rationalization to try and convince themselves otherwise. Like they were happy with medical science up until this point but they can't break away from their political party because it's part of their identity.

        If a doctor told them they had cancer they would be in the hospital tomorrow asking for every chemo drug and treatment. Now a doctor tells them a vaccine would be in their best interest and suddenly it's completely different

    • Me too.

      ---
      Posted from my iPhone using the incredibly good 5G coverage in North Carolina.

    • But my cousin's BFF has a Reddit post proving all the science sheeple wrong! I mean why should I trust these so called scientists over random, unknown people on the Interwebs? I am not falling for the plan of Bill Gates and the Illuminati.
  • by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @03:04AM (#63527817)

    Idaho lawmakers want to criminalize mRNA vaccines. [salon.com] -- excerpt of bill, referenced in article, below:

    LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO
    HOUSE BILL NO. 154
    18-926. ADMINISTERING AN MRNA VACCINE.

    (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person may not provide or administer a vaccine developed using messenger ribonucleic acid technology for use in an individual or any other mammal in this state.

    (2) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Idiocracy. Well, it was clear the US empire would collapse at some point. Apparently that process is well underway.

    • by Required Snark ( 1702878 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @05:11AM (#63528021)
      The Republican Party is a death cult. Guns, disease, pollution, they don't care which, as long as someone they disapprove of dies.
      • The Republican Party is a death cult. Guns, disease, pollution, they don't care which, as long as someone they disapprove of dies.

        The Republican motto: Let the bodies hit the floor!

        • Other peoples bodies. You'll note that the legislation doesn't forbid travelling out of state to get vaccinated, if you have the means to do so. It's pure populism - throw the masses something that will appeal to them, even if it makes things worse for them, and make sure you have another option.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • in other word: "a basket of deplorables"
    • Doctors are already leaving the state and hospitals are getting rid of maternity care because the party of small government keeps passing oppressive legislation. https://idahocapitalsun.com/20... [idahocapitalsun.com]
      https://www.theguardian.com/us... [theguardian.com]

  • THIS is why they are ripping out chinese telecommunication equipment from cell towers! The new nanobot vaccine mind control system uses 7G . Now, are we against masks because eagles and such, or pro-masks to hide our identities as we post tiktoks of ourselves storming the white house/chinese restaurant?

  • by Required Snark ( 1702878 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @05:16AM (#63528027)
    As per normal practice, after a vast amount of public spending and academic investment, a few big pharma companies will patent this, lock everyone else out and make obscene profits. And they will avoid taxes on top of that. It happened with insulin, it happened with Covid-19 vaccinations, and it will happen with this as well.
    • California is making their own insulin to bypass the price gouging drug companies.
      https://www.npr.org/2023/03/19... [npr.org]

    • Given the enormous number of lives saved and economic damage avoided, the pharmaceutical companies should have made at least an order of magnitude more for the COVID vaccines. We want to incentivize that sort of massive public good, not criticize it.
  • I was part of an mRNA flu vaccine trial. They work. A little jab and no symptoms to keep from getting a bad flu? Yes please.

    • mRNA is going to continue to be a game changer in vaccines, but the real triumph here is the 'universal' part of it, since it won't be the hit or miss on guessing the strain and then growing it in eggs like we do now. Moving to mRNA alone would've been great but the universal vaccine is icing on the cake. Depending on how long the antibodies remain circulating it could mean you wouldn't even need one yearly any more.
    • I was part of an mRNA flu vaccine trial. They work. A little jab and no symptoms to keep from getting a bad flu? Yes please.

      I'm all for a universal flu vaccine, mRNA or traditional. But I'm doubting the "no symptoms" part for most people. Regular flu vaccines always make me feel somewhat under the weather for a few days... and I had a day of feeling like crap after each of my COVID shots.

      But feeling somewhat bad for a short while beats getting sick for a week or more, or worse.

  • once you start using this new vaccine it will apply pressure to the virus to change that key structure as well. there have been and will be changes but they will be selected for success with the new vaccine. there are no universal vaccines and life, even debased forms like viruses, will find a way.

    • by crow ( 16139 )

      Maybe, but that's not what happened with small pox or polio. If the vaccine really targets a stable part of the virus, we have a winner.

      • Polio is not yet gone. It still exists in pockets in the world. And the popular vaccine was a weakened strain that could sometimes mutate back into a full strength version.

        Smallpox was a good call but it really was a more locked in design. Flu seems to be too mutable. I hope this really works but there's a ways to go before we write off flu as a threat any longer.

  • The human immune system is pretty smart. There's a reason that the body hasn't come up with a universal antibody for the flu.

    This will also selectively pressure the influenza virus to mutate in the area that we're targeting.

    Now that we're seeing spike protein in the bloodstream of people who got the mRNA COVID vaccine up to 60 days post inoculation, I think we need to to a lot more testing of mRNA vaccines now that the current health crisis is over.

  • If they can already produce and isolate H1ssF nanoparticles for administration directly as a vaccine, why would they want to use mRNA to induce the body to produce H1ssF? The summary is a big ambiguous.

  • by groobly ( 6155920 ) on Wednesday May 17, 2023 @10:59AM (#63529063)

    Just a friendly reminder that right now, covid is currently killing about 100 times as many people in the US as flu.

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