A vaccine that could protect against all forms of flu has been developed by British scientists, reported five newspapers (4 January 2008). The reports are based on limited information about early-stage research distributed in a press release, so the reliability of the evidence cannot be assessed.
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Five newspapers (1-5) reported that a vaccine which could protect against all forms of flu has been developed by British scientists. The reports focused on the findings of two preliminary studies, one of which was conducted in human subjects.
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Very little data is available on the research that was conducted. The human study was conducted in 79 healthy adult participants and looked at the vaccine's safety and ability to generate an immune response in relation to placebo. The limited data presented indicated that the vaccine was well tolerated and that immune responses were seen among vaccinated participants.
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The newspaper articles generally provided accurate summaries of information distributed in a press release by the manufacturers of the proposed vaccine (6). All accurately indicated that the vaccine may be some years from market. Though the Daily Mail (1) stated that the new vaccine may work better than the existing flu jab, it should be noted that the effectiveness of the vaccine under development has not yet been tested in humans.
Systematic reviews
Information staff at CRD searched for systematic reviews relevant to this topic. Systematic reviews are valuable sources of evidence as they locate, appraise and synthesize all available evidence on a particular topic.
There were no related systematic reviews identified on the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) or on the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE).
References and resources
1. At last, a jab that 'protects against every strain of flu'. Daily Mail, 4 January 2008, p6.
2. Vaccine to fight all flu 'on the way'. Daily Telegraph, 4 January 2008, p4.
3. New vaccinations give scientists hope of conquering flu epidemic. The Times, 4 January 2008, p3.
4. Acambis unveils positive results in flu vaccine trial. The Financial Times Companies & Markets, 4 January 2008.
5. Superjab to beat flu bugs in five years. Daily Express, 4 January 2008, p4.
6. Acambis. Acambis reports positive data from trials of universal influenza A vaccine. Press Release, 3 January 2008.
Consumer information
NHS Direct - Flu
NHS Direct- Flu jab
Previous Hitting the Headlines summaries on this topic
Development of new flu vaccine. Hitting the Headlines archive, 5 August 2005.
Further information about Hitting the Headlines
Further information about Hitting the Headlines, together with selected relevant links, can be found at http://www.library.nhs.uk/hth/.
