Thank you Dr. Ted Ross. So H3N2, for example, indicates a strain with the H3 subtype of hemagglutinin and the N2 subtype of neuraminidase.Ross describes the flu virus as looking like a flower with a stalk and a globular head. “We need to find out if their immune responses mimic what we found in animals.”Ross compares his approach to creating a broadly protective vaccine to creating one card out of an entire deck. It could be stockpiled and better distributed to people worldwide, where it would be ready for an outbreak. He has been an invited speaker at more than 100 national and international conferences and participates in several vaccine working groups, including at the NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization.
“We need to target the major subtypes of influenza and come up with a vaccine that recognizes all of the strains within those subtypes. At the time we were thinking only of H5N1, but without knowing it, we were talking about developing a universal vaccine.”Ross is still pursuing that goal. Prior to this, worked in other WHO Departments; Mental Health and Substance Dependence (1998-2003) and Gender and Women's Health (2003-2005). Universal implies that every single version of influenza will be protected with a single vaccine, he says.“That’s a high bar and not realistic, at least in my lifetime,” he says. By then, the next flu season will be underway. “There’s a little bit of every single one of those flu strains in a single vaccine. Seasonal flu shots of varying effectiveness will be available, and the CDC will once again be tracking rates of disease, hospitalization and death. H1N1 caused a worldwide pandemic in 2009, when it was known as swine flu, but now it circulates as a seasonal form of influenza.A year later, Ross and Sanofi Pasteur announced that they had developed a vaccine that protects against multiple strains of H3N2 influenza. Can be used for World Health Organization March 20 Coronavirus Briefing Transcript: Warn Health Systems are “Collapsing” Under COVID-19World Health Organization March 20 Coronavirus Briefing Transcript: Warn Health Systems are “Collapsing” Under COVID-19 “With our vaccine, you’ll have immunity no matter which strain you’re exposed to.”A more flexible vaccine could be manufactured year-round, instead of just seasonally. Younger people had immunity that could effectively fight the newer viruses, but they typically did not react to the historical strains as well as their elders.
Ross will perhaps be turning his attention to creating a vaccine for influenza B, the “ugly stepchild” that has a lower incidence in humans, but is just as deadly. Dr. Ross has published more than 130 papers and book chapters on infectious disease and vaccine development. Despite the best efforts of public health officials, the flu vaccine’s effectiveness varies year to year, and this season’s has not performed well.
“Flu infects almost every species, and its reservoir is waterfowl—birds that fly all over, allowing the virus to mutate. He uses a deck of cards—with each suit representing different subtypes of influenza—to describe his approach to creating a broadly protective vaccine. And they’re making progress. After volunteers received a flu vaccine, Ross and his team monitored the ability of the vaccine-generated antibodies to neutralize a wide variety of influenza viruses over four years.They found that older people had a broader immunity to older influenza strains thanks to years of exposure through either vaccination or natural infection, but they were susceptible to newer strains. The 1968 H3N2 pandemic wasn’t as bad as the 1957 H2N2 pandemic, and 1957 wasn’t as bad as the catastrophic H1N1 pandemic of 1918.Exposure to strains like these—especially if it’s the first infection—influences how the immune system responds to the flu vaccine, according to research by Ross and Sanofi Pasteur.
/ Gary Bandy, Alan Crouch Ư [et al]. Influenza will be back in the headlines, and there will be more interviews and opportunities for Ross to discuss his approach to creating a broadly protective vaccine.“Working on flu,” he says, “you get free publicity every winter.”Established in 2015, the CVI brings investigators focused on vaccine development and immunology under one roof where they study a variety of pathogens. Hemagglutinin has 18 subtypes, and neuraminidase has 11 subtypes. Erlich is examining how stressors such as abuse or malnutrition affect response to a vaccine. Is a Technical Officer, World Health Organization, Department for health workforce with focus on nursing and midwifery. Most traditional flu vaccines target the head of the flower, stimulating the immune system to generate antibodies that bind to the hemagglutinin and prevent the virus from entering a cell. The UGA professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar of Infectious Diseases feels a sense of urgency.