[[{“value”:”Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine are developing an empirical mRNA “vaccine” for avian influenza.
In preliminary models, an exploratory mRNA vaccine against the avian influenza virus H5N1 is demonstrated to be very effective at preventing severe illness and death. In addition to preventing animal infections with the H5N1 virus, the vaccine may help manage the outbreak that is already affecting birds and cattle in the United States, according to a press release from Penn Medicine News.
The scientists published the research on May 23, 2024, in Nature Communications.
According to Scott Hensley, PhD, a professor of microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine,” the mRNA technology allows us to be much more efficient in developing vaccines.”
” During previous influenza pandemics, like the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, vaccines were hard to manufacture and did not become available until after the first pandemic waves subsided”, he added.
According to research led by @SCOTTeHENSLEY and @WeissmanLab, an experimental #mRNA vaccine could help stop the avian influenza virus# H5N1 from being circulating in birds and cattle in the United States and stop human infections. https ://t.co/G1GKwIfq9z
— Penn Medicine ( @PennMedicine ) May 28, 2024
From Penn Medicine News:
Hensley and his laboratory collaborated on the study with Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research and Penn Medicine’s Director of Vaccine Research. Weissman is a pioneer in mRNA vaccine research and Nobel Prize winner.
” Before 2020, experts thought the influenza virus posed the greatest risk of causing a pandemic, and we had limited options for creating a vaccine if that had happened”, said Weissman. We are today better equipped to deal with a variety of viruses with pandemic potential, including influenza, because COVID- 19 demonstrated the efficacy of mRNA-based vaccines as a tool to protect humans from emerging viruses immediately.
Most influenza vaccines are egg-based, meaning that experts infect fertilized chicken eggs with the strain that they predict will be the strong, let it replicate, and therefore inactivate the virus to use in the flu shots that are distributed around the world. But, viruses must initially be modified to reproduce in fertilized eggs before these traditional vaccines can be produced. This process can take up to six months, which could cause issues when producing a vaccine right away when it’s most needed during the first few months of a pandemic. mRNA vaccines do n’t require eggs for their development, and they can be quickly and easily adapted to protect against various strains of influenza viruses.
The Penn researchers created an mRNA vaccine that targets a particular subtype of the H5N1 virus, which is commonly distributed in birds and cattle. Some people worry that the virus may evolve and lead to a mortal pandemic despite the fact that it only often infects people. The researchers discovered that the vaccine produced a powerful T cell response and antibody in mice and ferrets. What’s more, the animals maintained higher levels of antibodies yet a year after vaccination. Moreover, the researchers discovered that vaccined animals that later became H5N1-positive cleared the virus more quickly and had fewer symptoms than unvaccinated controls. Additionally, the researchers note that all uninsured animals passed away while all those who had been vaccinated had survived.
Promising outcomes from @PennMedicine suggest that an mRNA vaccine platform could lessen the impact of avian flu pandemics. https ://t.co/Mwu1gz5EfH
— Penn ( @Penn ) May 28, 2024
Pfizer and Moderna are reportedly in talks with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS) to develop an mRNA-based vaccine in addition to the transcriptional bird flu vaccine being developed by University of Pennsylvania researchers.
Moderna and Pfizer to produce bird flu vaccines? To produce close to 5 million doses, according to HHS
The fear campaign for bird flu has started taking a new direction with reports of two more human cases of H5N1 Avian Influenza.
According to ABC News, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is getting ready for the “possibility of increased risk to people health” from bird flu.
The CDC has confirmed a second human case of the very deadly bird flu virus that was linked to a case of dairy cows. A Michigan farmworker, according to World News Tonight, recovered from the virus after exhibiting moderate symptoms.
WATCH:
A second human case of the very contagious bird flu virus linked to an outbreak in dairy cows has been confirmed by the CDC. A Michigan farmworker appeared to have minor symptoms and possible contracted the virus from diseased livestock, according to health officials. @perezreports has more. pic. twitter.com/X3K71IiIeG
— World News Tonight ( @ABCWorldNews ) May 23, 2024
Australia just released its first human case of bird flu.
First people case of” Bird Flu” in Australia for a child who was in India at the time. twitter.com/MZIt9BcSU1
— DramaAlert ( @DramaAlert ) May 24, 2024
Per ABC News:
After H5N1 avian influenza was found in a child traveling back to Victoria, Australia has recorded its first ever mortal case of one particular strain of the bird flu.
The Victorian Department of Health confirmed that the child who was brought back to the country in March developed an illness and immediately tested positive for the avian influenza, also known as bird flu.
The spokesperson stated that the child had a serious infection but is now recuperating fully and is no longer unwell.
” Contact tracing has never found any additional cases of avian influenza related to this case.”
The department reassured the public that there were “very few” chances of further human cases.
Read the whole study published in Nature Communications.”}]] [[{“value”:”
Researchers at the Perelman Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania have developed an experimental mRNA “vaccine” for avian flu.
In preclinical models, an experimental mRNA vaccination against the avian influenza virus (H5N1) is highly effective at preventing severe illness and even death. The vaccine could help manage the H5N1 outbreak currently circulating in cattle and birds in the United States and prevent human infections, according to a Penn Medicine News news release.
The research was published in Nature Communications on May 23, 2024.
“The mRNA technologies allows us to be more agile in developing vaccines. We can start creating an mRNA vaccine within a few hours of sequencing a viral strain with potential pandemic,” said Scott Hensley PhD, a Professor of Microbiology at Perelman’s School of Medicine.
He added that during previous influenza pandemics like the 2009 H1N1 virus pandemic, vaccines had been difficult to produce and were not available until the initial pandemic wave subsided.
According to @SCOTTeHENSLEY’s and @WeissmanLab’s research, an experimental #mRNA vaccination could help manage the current outbreak of #H5N1 avian flu virus in birds and cattle, and prevent human infection. https://t.co/G1GKwIfq9z
— Penn Medicine (@PennMedicine) May 28, 2024
Penn Medicine News
Hensley’s laboratory and the laboratory of Drew Weissman MD, PhD, Roberts Family Professor and Director of Vaccine Research at Penn Medicine, collaborated on the study. Weissman is a Nobel Prize-winning mRNA vaccine researcher.
Weissman said that experts believed the influenza virus was the most likely to cause a pandemic before 2020. We had limited options in creating a vaccine should this happen. “COVID-19 demonstrated the effectiveness of mRNA-based vaccinations in protecting humans against emerging viruses. We are now better prepared to respond to a wide range of viruses with pandemic capacity, including influenza.”
Most influenza vaccines are egg based. Experts inject fertilized chicken eggs containing what they predict to be the dominant viral strain. They then let the virus replicate and inactivate it before using the virus in flu shots distributed worldwide. These conventional vaccines must be adapted first to replicate in fertilized egg before they can be produced. This can take up to 6 months. This can present problems for producing vaccine quickly during the first few weeks of a pandemic. mRNA vaccines can be quickly and easily adapted to protect from different strains of flu viruses and do not require eggs for development.
Penn researchers have developed a mRNA vaccine that targets a subtype of H5N1 virus, which is widely circulating in cattle and birds. Although it is rare for the virus to infect humans, some are concerned that it may evolve and cause an epidemic. Researchers found that the vaccine produced a strong T cell and antibody response in ferrets and mice. The animals also maintained high levels even a full year after vaccination. Researchers also found that vaccinated mice who were infected by H5N1 had a faster virus clearance and exhibited fewer symptoms compared to unvaccinated controls. Researchers also note that the vaccinated and unvaccinated animal populations both survived H5N1 infection.
@PennMedicine has reported promising results that suggest an mRNA platform could help limit the impact of pandemics. https://t.co/Mwu1gz5EfH
— Penn (@Penn) May 28, 2024
Pfizer and Moderna, in addition to the mRNA vaccine for bird flu being developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, are allegedly in discussions with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to manufacture a vaccine based on mRNA.
Pfizer and Moderna to manufacture bird flu vaccines? HHS to Produce Nearly Five Million Doses
The fear campaign against bird flu has reached a new level with the reports of two more human cases of H5N1 Avian Influenza.
ABC News reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is preparing for “possible increased risk to human safety” due to bird flu.
The CDC confirmed a second case of highly contagious bird influenza virus in humans linked to an outbreak among dairy cows. Health officials said a Michigan farmworker recovered following mild symptoms and likely contracted the disease from infected animals,” World News Tonight reported.
WATCH:
The CDC confirmed a second case of highly contagious virus that is linked to an outbreak of dairy cows. Health officials said a Michigan farmworker recovered from mild symptoms and likely contracted the disease from infected animals. @perezreports will have more. pic.twitter.com/X3K71IiIeG
World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews), May 23, 2024
Australia reported its first human case of bird influenza recently.
First human case of ‘Bird Flu’ reported in Australia in a child who got it while in India.. pic.twitter.com/MZIt9BcSU1
DramaAlert May 24, 2024
ABC News:
Australia has recorded the first human case of a particular strain of bird flu. H5N1 was detected in an Australian child returning home from Victoria.
The Victorian Department of Health confirmed that the child returning to Australia became ill in March, and then tested positive for avian flu.
The spokesperson stated that “the child suffered a severe infection, but is now well and has recovered fully.”
“Contact tracing did not identify any other cases of avian flu connected to this case.”
The Department assured the community that there was a “very low” chance of further human cases.
Nature Communications published the full study.
“}]]
