An antibody that can fight all types of the influenza A virus has been identified by researchers from the Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research.
Studies in fly-infected mice showed that the antibody could be used as an emergency treatment or in the development of a universal vaccine, rather than be used to create a new vaccine each winter. The antibody, named FI6, targets a protein found on the surface of the virus, called haemagglutinin. Mice infected with a lethal dose of the H1N1 virus were injected with the antibody two days after the virus was recorded and survived.
Â
