'Universal' vaccines could finally allow for wide-scale flu
prevention Posted February 27, 2012; 09:00 a.m. An emerging
class of long-lasting flu vaccines could do more than just save
people the trouble of an annual flu shot. Princeton University-
based researchers have found that the "universal" vaccine could
for the first time allow for the effective, wide-scale
prevention of flu by limiting the influenza virus's ability to
spread and mutate. Universal, or cross-protective, vaccines — so
named for their effectiveness against several flu strains — are
being developed in various labs worldwide and some are already
in clinical trials. The researchers recently reported in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that the new
vaccines would make a bout with influenza less severe, making it
more difficult for the virus to spread. At the same time, the
vaccines would target relatively unchanging parts of the virus
and hamper the virus's notorious ability to evolve and evade
immunity; current flu vaccines