Abstract
Current influenza vaccines offer suboptimal protection and depend on annual reformulation and yearly administration. Vaccine technology has rapidly advanced during the last decade, facilitating development of next-generation influenza vaccines that can target a broader range of influenza viruses. The development and licensure of a universal influenza vaccine could provide a game changing option for the control of influenza by protecting against all influenza A and B viruses. Here we review important findings and considerations regarding the development of universal influenza vaccines and what we can learn from this moving forward with a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine design.
Highlights
An influenza virus infection typically manifests as a fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose, myalgia, and headaches
Cross-reactivity is necessary because of the antigenic plasticity of the viral membrane protein hemagglutinin (HA), which leads to antigenically drifted viruses and potential mismatches with the vaccine strains [3]. This shortcoming can be addressed by developing new vaccines targeting the more antigenically conserved regions of the influenza virus [4]
Another approach for overcoming egg-based vaccine production is the use of recombinant HA vaccines, which are based on a protein-expression system using baculoviruses and insect cells [33]
Summary
An influenza virus infection typically manifests as a fever, sore throat, cough, runny nose, myalgia, and headaches. Seasonal influenza causes around 290,000 to 650,000 respiratory deaths each year [1] This number can increase dramatically when, at unpredictable intervals, influenza pandemics occur. The current seasonal influenza vaccines contain strains from each of these viruses. The currently licensed influenza vaccines lack two essential attributes: Firstly, they do not produce durable protective immunity They do not produce a cross-reactive immune response that can neutralize diverse influenza virus strains. Cross-reactivity is necessary because of the antigenic plasticity of the viral membrane protein hemagglutinin (HA), which leads to antigenically drifted viruses and potential mismatches with the vaccine strains [3] This shortcoming can be addressed by developing new vaccines targeting the more antigenically conserved regions of the influenza virus [4].
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