Influenza

Approximately 500,000 of these infections result in hospitalizations. According to the National Institutes of Health, the total annual direct medical costs are estimated at $3.2 billion in the United States alone. Although these numbers are estimates for any given season, the global burden of influenza is much higher with approximately 500,000 deaths annually from flu or flu-related complications, such as bacterial pneumonia.

Yearly influenza epidemics can seriously affect all age groups, but those at highest risk of complications include very young children, adults 65 or older and those with underlying medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease. A total of 4 influenza pandemics (disease that spreads around the world) have occurred over the last 100 years where influenza strikes healthy people during their prime. Predicting which individuals will be most at risk from one strain or another has been, to date, unsuccessful.

Vaccination is still considered the most effective way to protect people from contracting the flu. Current vaccines stimulate production of antibodies that target the “outer coat” of the virus and contain outer coat proteins from 3-4 of the currently circulating strains. However, the outer coat proteins of influenza viruses vary among strains and are continuously undergoing mutational changes, making a vaccine produced against strains in one year less effective against strains that may mutate and circulate in the next year. This is highly problematic, as new strains are continually emerging that may give rise to pandemics, as was seen with 2009 H1N1. These outbreaks, like 2009 H1N1 and the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemics, require the research and health care industries to quickly mobilize to design, produce and deliver to the public new vaccines which can take six to nine months, or longer.

Trudeau scientists are making important contributions to research toward the ultimate goal of developing a “universal” Influenza vaccine that protects against most or all strains of seasonal or pandemic Influenza. Their innovative approach involves designing a vaccine that targets the proteins of the virus that are less prone to mutation, including the unchanging parts of the outer surface proteins as well as the “inner proteins” of the virus core. By training both B and T cells to recognize the stable outer and inner parts of the virus respectively, Trudeau researchers aim to harness the immune system's full power to prevent influenza illness and the many deaths attributed to the disease.