Russia: An uninvited guest to better flu

08:04 06.02.2009
Source: http://wobla.ru

An uninvited guest to better flu

The epidemic in the central part of Russia will start from day to day - promise the central media. From the epidemiological situation more ads in January, the major Russian cities rescued long winter vacation, which freed schools, kindergartens, public transport and other places of possible contamination of mass population. Now flu, according to Rospotrebnadzor, goes to Moscow immediately from the two border regions, where the epidemic is already raging in full force and effect.
Through the western border of the virus hit the country in Kaliningrad, where from February 2 to week canceled classes in schools. Just before epidemiologists noted breakthrough on the eastern border. On Sakhalin classes in schools have already abolished two weeks, and in the Khabarovsk physicians recorded overshooting the incidence of 7%.

In the country every year since the fall ready to meet guests that no one called. Yet his guile to resist many Russians still can not. How to build a castle?

A particular risk of avian influenza has pushed scientists, and today they actively invent new vaccines and improve old ones. Virologist from Oxford started testing on volunteers a universal vaccine against all strains of the virus, including the causative agent of avian influenza. Will need to enter it every year, but only once every 5 - 10 years. In practice the vaccine will go through 5 years. Успеем whether we run a universal vaccine in production or avian influenza virus will cause a new and terrible pandemic?

The future ...

- Universal vaccine developed in England, Germany, China and in Russia, - said Oleg Kiselev, Academician of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and director of the Research Institute of influenza in St. Petersburg. - We are with the Center «Bioengineering», Russian Academy of Sciences, headed by Academician Skryabin, also patented a universal vaccine. We are still lagging behind - it is very difficult to obtain the necessary financing. But the idea of a vaccine is very original. It will be available in the form of spray to the nose. Why is a universal vaccine effective against all influenza viruses? Today's vaccines are directed against two viral antigens, which refer to English letters N and H (see figure). They called N5N1 bird flu, and viruses on the basis of which made the vaccine this year, - H1N1 and H3N2. These antigens are located on the surface of the virus and rapidly changing. Therefore, for them every year to do a new vaccine. Universal same vaccine neutralize other purposes - proteins M1, M2, and NP, located inside the virus and its envelope (see figure). Because they are so quickly mutates, the protection of the new vaccine will be long.

... And now.

In Russia, recorded all the generations of vaccines (see top). They demonstrate a good history of vaccination against influenza. First, a vaccine made of whole viruses, killed or weakened. They were frequent complications because of large quantities of viral protein. In order to reduce its content, the virus began to disintegrate, and the protein is partially removed. So there splitvaktsiny. They represent the solution of purified viral fragments. Then scientists learned how to allocate from the virus only antigens N and H, removing the rest. Such vaccines are called subedinichnymi. And more recently, to make them even safer, the World Health Organization began to recommend to reduce the dose of antigen. That such vaccines were effective, they added stimulators of immunity. This recipe is made grippol, which we use for the free vaccination. Another way to improve vaccine - the creation of structures in the form similar to a virus on the surface which have the antigen. So put infleksal.

All vaccines are contraindicated for people with allergy to chicken protein.

- As early as next year in the world and in Russia, you may receive the first vaccine without this deficiency, "- says Ludmila Luss, professor, academician of RANS, head of department of Institute of Immunology. - Viruses for it will not grow on embryos and on cultured cells. According to WHO experts, is the most modern technology that you'd like to introduce as much as possible.


Number 20 (22430)
05.02.2009