HKU developed needle-free vaccine for multiple types of flu
發佈日期: 2025-05-08 19:33
TVB News
A medical research team from the University of Hong Kong has developed new needle-free vaccine platforms against flu viruses.
These are able to provide broad protection against different influenza subtypes. They include human flu and avian viruses.
The School of Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with the Centre for Immunology and Infection, has developed technology for two pioneering needle-free flu vaccines.
One of the two new approaches involved inserting a human gene into the genome of a human flu virus. That can prompt infected host cells to produce antibodies to recognise cells infected by the vaccine -- and enhance immune responses.
It can also induce broad protection against various influenza A subtypes, including human H1N1 and H3N2, and avian H5N1 strains.
Another new approach: introduce hundreds of silent mutations to a human flu virus, shifting the "codon usage" from a human flu virus to that of an avian flu virus pattern.
The method has proven to weaken the virus reproduction rate with year-long protection among lab mice.
Traditional seasonal flu vaccines target three selected virus strains and require annual updates.
If circulating viruses differ from vaccine strains, effectiveness can significantly decrease. The vaccines developed from the new technology are said to be able to address such virus mismatch.
LEO POON, Chair Professor of Public Health Virology, HKUMed: "If they have a mutation, that may make the commercial vaccines less effective in a sense. So this is one of the problems of the seasonal influenza vaccines. And the second problem is these vaccines are designed for controlling seasonal influenza viruses only. So if you talk about animal influenza virus, like the pandemic in 2009, which was a swine influenza virus. And that vaccines, I mean, at that time, the commercial vaccine would not be useful.
Delivered intranasally, the needle-free method activates immunity along the upper and lower respiratory tract -- offering stronger protection and easing vaccine hesitancy, especially among children.
Looking ahead, the HKU research team hopes to merge the two novel vaccine platforms into one, laying the foundation for a next-generation flu vaccine for more public use.
