Universal Influenza Vaccine: Quest in Sight?: Several efforts to develop a vaccine that might work against all or most flu virus strains fortify hopes for fulfilling this one-time “flight of fancy”

Abstract

William Schaffner, professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, remembers the countless times he and other flu experts mused about the possibilities of a universal vaccine, one that would not need modifying each year. These days, however, thanks to modern molecular technology, this dream no longer appears so improbable. “Now or very soon, these may no longer be flights of fancy,” he says. “There are some very impressive scientific efforts underway to make this real.”