Nasal mist vaccine shows promise fighting multiple flu strains

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have found that intranasal flu vaccines may be able to protect people against the flu, according to a report published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation/Insight.

Using the FluMist (Medimmune) flu vaccine, researchers found that when injected into mice the vaccine started the production of T cells in the lungs that provided protections against multiple variations of the flu strain.

"Our results demonstrate that each type of flu vaccine offers a different kind of protection against influenza," said Donna Farber, PhD, professor of surgical sciences at CUMC and the study's principal investigator. "Vaccine developers may want to combine these attributes in a universal vaccine that is capable of offering protection against the familiar strains of influenza we expect to see during a typical yearly outbreak as well as novel strains that can cause a pandemic."

In accomplishing the goal to find a vaccination against many kinds of fly strains, researchers studied other recent studies that found the special kind of T cell capable of eliminating flu infected cells.

"These cells may not prevent you from getting sick, but they will help you clear virus more quickly and reduce the severity of the illness," Farber said.