--- title: Universal Flu Vaccine 1 Step Closer as Scientists Unveil New Research description: Scientists are one step closer to developing a universal flu vaccine to protect against all strains canonical: https://time.com/4008699/universal-flu-vaccine-first-step/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-24T20:58:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:23:59.307Z article:section: Health og:title: Universal Flu Vaccine 1 Step Closer as Scientists Unveil New Research og:description: Scientists are one step closer to developing a universal flu vaccine to protect against all strains og:url: https://time.com/4008699/universal-flu-vaccine-first-step/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc167f6f0a31e55c7/698860aecf40a87d24c3f604/flu-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1740 og:image:height: 979 og:image:alt: Flu Shots og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Universal Flu Vaccine 1 Step Closer as Scientists Unveil New Research twitter:description: Scientists are one step closer to developing a universal flu vaccine to protect against all strains twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc167f6f0a31e55c7/698860aecf40a87d24c3f604/flu-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Scientists Unveil 'Promising First Step' to Universal Flu Vaccine > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 24, 2015 8:58 PM UTC  File photo dated Jan. 23, 2014, of flu vaccines. File photo dated Jan. 23, 2014, of flu vaccines. Chieko Hara—AP by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 24, 2015 8:58 PM UTC Scientists are one step closer to developing a universal flu vaccine to protect against all strains of the virus. Every year, scientists take an educated guess on which strains of flu will be circulating in a given season so that the annual flu vaccine can protect against those strains. Sometimes though, the vaccine does not protect against a particular strain and people can still get sick. But on Monday, two teams of researchers revealed that they’re getting closer to figuring out a way to create a vaccine that can protect against multiple strains for a long period of time. The purpose of a vaccine is to create antibodies that protect the body against invading viruses. In the new studies published in the journals [_Science_](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/08/24/science.aac7263) and [_Nature_](http://www.nature.com/articles/nm.3927.epdf?referrer%5Faccess%5Ftoken=Sf35QhyU53lMPZQairbywdRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0Nrt5EIInZocSjVxQmYWpapteR6ZtgV9i481Ye0Yd14r-Q4XgmFy3vRdCdZ1AtxAyz19aSZj01Tg%5FTvpzeutAFZ9Rt63qFNF6Ye0C3E%5FCEyGKjzVAOQrlgVZHqi20QloZVoN70bQ3C1AXe-mtD742dD3yekFa-YqoWN0vV3pv%5FUIw%3D%3D&tracking%5Freferrer=www.wired.com), the researchers formulated a vaccine that used the part of a virus that doesn’t mutate as much. Researchers have known that the head of a viral protein called hemagglutinin changes easily, whereas its stem remains relatively unchanged. However, until now scientists have struggled to achieve an immune response with the stem rather than the ever-changing head. The researchers in the new study were able to formulate a vaccine that created antibodies from the stem. The vaccines showed success among a variety of lab animals including mice, ferrets and monkeys and protected against flu strains like H5N1 avian flu and H1N1 (swine flu). “The \[experimental\] designs were different, but the end results were very similar and highly complementary,” Ian Wilson, co-author on _Science_, [said](http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/08/universal-flu-vaccine-horizon). “It’s a promising first step, and it’s very exciting to see this research come to fruition.” The vaccines are not yet “universal” vaccines, but they may lay the groundwork for building better vaccines down the line. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4008699/universal-flu-vaccine-first-step/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4008699/universal-flu-vaccine-first-step/"},"headline":"Scientists Unveil 'Promising First Step' to Universal Flu Vaccine","datePublished":"2015-08-24T20:58:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:23:59.307Z","description":"It's a small but important step","url":"https://time.com/4008699/universal-flu-vaccine-first-step/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","flu","vaccine"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc167f6f0a31e55c7/698860aecf40a87d24c3f604/flu-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc167f6f0a31e55c7/698860aecf40a87d24c3f604/flu-vaccine.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Flu Shots","caption":"Flu Shots","creditText":"Chieko Hara—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4008699/universal-flu-vaccine-first-step/","name":"Scientists Unveil 'Promising First Step' to Universal Flu Vaccine"}}]}] ```