It looks like it will be a few more months until we see a vaccine for Swine Flu that is widely available. Worldwide cases of Swine Flu are about to pass the 10,000 mark, but so far the strain does not seem more dangerous or deadly than the regular flu.
The trouble with the flu is that the virus mutates so quickly, that’s it’s currently impossible to take a shot that will essentially protect you for life. But scientists around the world are continuing efforts to try to come up with a universal flu vaccine.
[S]cientists and vaccine manufacturers are hard at work on a so-called universal flu vaccine that would work against all types of flu. The goal is to provide protection for years, if not a whole lifetime, against all seasonal flu strains and pandemic strains, making flu inoculation much more like that for measles and polio.
“The universal would completely change the way flu vaccination would be done,” said Sarah C. Gilbert, a vaccine expert at the University of Oxford. “The sooner we have a universal vaccine the better because we can stop worrying about what the next pandemic will be.”
Although the 24-hour news coverage has died down, the broader story of the new flu is far from over. As always, you can get the latest at our Swine Flu Newsfeed.
