Japan eyes all-round bird flu vaccine

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2008

TOKYO (AFP) — Japanese researchers said Monday they had paved the way to develop an all-round vaccine to protect people from bird flu and its feared mutations.

The new method entails injecting into the body a tiny bit of fat, known as a liposome, which is carrying an antigen on its surface.

Current vaccines on bird flu rely on the immune system's ability to attack the virus itself but they become ineffective if the virus mutates.

The new method "targets the inside of the virus, rather than its surface," as the inside of the virus structure rarely changes, said Tetsuya Uchida, researcher at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

"It would stop the virus from replicating itself," he told AFP. "There is the possibility that this may lead to a...