ted m ross world health organization

“The better we understand how a vaccine operates in a human, the more we can apply that knowledge to other pathogens.”CVI researchers are working to address not just influenza, but a variety of other pathogens, including dengue, Zika, Ebola, chikungunya, HIV and respiratory syncytial virus.

It could be stockpiled and better distributed to people worldwide, where it would be ready for an outbreak.

Seasonal flu shots of varying effectiveness will be available, and the CDC will once again be tracking rates of disease, hospitalization and death. H3N2 is the most predominant seasonal flu in circulation, and the CDC estimates this season’s vaccine effectiveness at only 25 percent for that particular strain. Erlich is examining how stressors such as abuse or malnutrition affect response to a vaccine. Can be used for World Health Organization March 20 Coronavirus Briefing Transcript: Warn Health Systems are “Collapsing” Under COVID-19World Health Organization March 20 Coronavirus Briefing Transcript: Warn Health Systems are “Collapsing” Under COVID-19 Ross’s vaccine has been tested successfully in animal models, and clinical trials are planned for 2019.“It’s time to put this vaccine into people’s arms,” Ross says. It may take more than one vaccine, but at least we’ll have something that’s broadly protective against most of the versions that infect humans.”Only a few strains of flu virus circulate worldwide in a typical year, but dozens more may exist. Universal implies that every single version of influenza will be protected with a single vaccine, he says.“That’s a high bar and not realistic, at least in my lifetime,” he says.

One hundred years after the Spanish flu pandemic killed an estimated 50 million people globally, the world health community is still not ready for the next occurrence, according to Ross.“We didn’t make a lot of improvements in 100 years, and I don’t think we’re any more prepared for the next pandemic that comes along,” he says. The avian strains don’t easily infect people, but the virus is constantly mutating and swapping genes with other influenza viruses it encounters—and sometimes these genetic changes create a version that allows an avian or swine flu to move into humans. We’ll always have mixing going on, and then a new version will come back to people.”The good news is that medical technology has been able to ameliorate some of the symptoms, keeping people alive. Hemagglutinin has 18 subtypes, and neuraminidase has 11 subtypes.

“We need to find out if their immune responses mimic what we found in animals.”Ross compares his approach to creating a broadly protective vaccine to creating one card out of an entire deck. There are several types of influenza; the most problematic is influenza A because it travels the world among birds, pigs and humans.

For more information, visit Ted M. Ross, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Georgia.

“It’s a little unrealistic to think that there’s going to be one vaccine for everyone.”Ross envisions a series of designer vaccines, allowing health care professionals to choose the version that will work best based on a person’s background, including factors like genetics and medical conditions.To that end, he’s collaborating with UGA researchers like Katie Erlich, assistant professor of psychology. He had been focused on HIV and AIDS, but like many other scientists, he redirected his attention to try and understand why that particular virus was so deadly.After Ross established his own laboratory—first at East Carolina University, then the University of Pittsburgh, and later the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute of Florida—he found that flu kept getting more of his attention and funding.

Hemagglutinin (H) attaches to cells to launch an infection, and neuraminidase (N) helps spread the virus once infection has occurred. World Health Organization. Influenza will be back in the headlines, and there will be more interviews and opportunities for Ross to discuss his approach to creating a broadly protective vaccine.“Working on flu,” he says, “you get free publicity every winter.”Established in 2015, the CVI brings investigators focused on vaccine development and immunology under one roof where they study a variety of pathogens.