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Article: JAPANESE TEAM RAISES HOPES FOR MULTI-STRAIN FLU DEFENCE.
- Article from:
- AsiaPulse News
- Article date:
- March 10, 2008
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TOKYO, March 10 Asia Pulse - Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases, NOF Corp. (4403) and others have developed a substance that may provide protection against multiple strains of the influenza virus.
Unlike existing flu vaccines, which boost the immune system's ability to directly fight the virus, this substance targets virus-infected cells. A major drawback of existing vaccines is that they become ineffective as soon as viruses mutate but because cells themselves do not mutate easily, it is more effective to attack sick cells.
The team, which also includes researchers from Hokkaido University ...