In a new study, researchers may have found the secret to helping
the immune system fight off the flu before it gets you sick. The
new study has found that EP67, a powerful synthetic protein, is
able to activate the innate immune system within just two hours
of being Prior to this study, EP67 had been primarily used as an
adjuvant for vaccines, something added to the vaccine to help
activate the immune response. But Joy Phillips, a lead author of
the study with her colleague Sam Sanderson, Ph.D. at the
University of Nebraska Medical Center, saw potential for it to
work on its own. “The flu virus is very sneaky and actively
keeps the immune system from detecting it for a few days until
you are getting symptoms,” Phillips said. “Our research showed
that by introducing EP67 into the body within 24 hours of
exposure to the flu virus caused the immune system to react
almost immediately to the threat, well before your body normally
would,” she said. Since EP67 doesn’t work on the virus but on
the immune system itsel