NIAID releases strategy for universal influenza vaccine

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) laid out a point by point note of the necessities for a universal flu vaccine this week, publishing their strategy in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

For such a vaccine to be successful, the organization saw four main goals that must be met: it needs to be usable by people of all ages, be at least 75 percent effective, protect against both Group I and II Influenza A viruses, and guarantee that protection for at least one year. Such a development is a priority of the institute and builds on knowledge previously workshopped in 2017 from academic, industry and government scientists working together to patch knowledge gaps, identify research strategies and lay out the criteria for such vaccines.

While seasonal flu vaccines are the current standard, the report’s authors determined this approach have limitations and difficulties associated with it that a broader and more durable protective vaccine could patch. A universal influenza vaccine was not always feasible, but they argued that advances in virology, immunology, and vaccinology have made it much more fathomable now than a decade ago, and to do so, researchers will need to focus on improving the understanding of transmission, natural history and pathogenesis of infection, characterizing how protective flu immunity occurs so as to tailor vaccination responses to it, and designing universal influenza vaccines that will include new immunogens and adjuvants to boost immunity and protection duration.

To this end, NIAID intends to create and support a consortium of scientists. In the process, they will also expand the institute’s research resources with human contacts, expanded human studies and support improved animal studies of influenza infection.