A successful long-term experiment with live hogs indicates Nebraska scientists may be another step closer to achieving a safe, long-lasting and potentially universal vaccine against swine flu.
Petro-Turnquist is advised by Eric Weaver, associate professor and director of the Nebraska Center for Virology. Weaver’s laboratory is spearheading an effort that uses Epigraph, a data-based computer technique co-developed by Bette Korber and James Theiler of Los Alamos National Laboratory, to create a more broad-based vaccine against influenza, which is notoriously difficult to prevent because it mutates rapidly.
In another strategy to heighten effectiveness, the vaccine is delivered via adenovirus, a common virus that causes cold-like symptoms. Its use as a vector triggers additional immune response by mimicking a natural viral infection., based on tests in mice and pigs. Those findings indicated the Epigraph-developed vaccine yielded immune response signatures and physiological protection against a much wider variety of strains than a widely used commercial vaccine and wildtype flu strains.
The pigs that received the Epigraph vaccine showed more rapid and long-lasting antibody and T-cell responses to the vaccines. After exposure to the swine flu virus, the Epigraph-vaccinated hogs showed significantly better protection against the disease — less viral shedding, fewer symptoms of infection and stronger immune system responses.
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Source: Reuters - 🏆 2. / 97 Read more »