Universal influenza virus vaccines and therapeutics: where do we stand with influenza B virus?

Universal influenza virus vaccines and therapeutics: where do we stand with influenza B virus? Curr Opin Immunol. 2018 Apr 17;53:45-50 Authors: Tan J, Asthagiri Arunkumar G, Krammer F Abstract The development of a broadly protective or universal influenza virus vaccine is currently a public health priority worldwide. The vast majority of these efforts is exclusively focused on influenza A viruses. While influenza A viruses cause the majority of all influenza cases worldwide, influenza B viruses should not be ignored. Approximately 25% of all influenza cases are caused by influenza B viruses which circulate as two distinct B/Victoria/2/87-like and B/Yamagata/16/88-like lineages. In contrast to popular belief, influenza B cases frequently cause significant morbidity and mortality, especially in children. Similar to influenza A viruses, influenza B viruses drift antigenically and the influenza B components of current vaccines have to be reformulated almost on an annual basis. A broadly protective vaccine against influenza B viruses is therefore urgently needed. Here we review both broadly protective anti-influenza B antibodies as well as the sparse attempts to create a universal influenza B virus vaccine. PMID: 29677684 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Current Opinion in Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Curr Opin Immunol Source Type: research