Early-stage clinical trial demonstrates promise of intranasal influenza vaccine in generating broad...

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) reported encouraging results from an early phase clinical trial that found an experimental intranasal vaccine triggered a broad immune response against multiple strains of H5N1 “ bird flu ”. The study, published today in the journal Nature Communications , highlights the potential of mucosal immunization strategies--where vaccines are squirted into the nostrils--to prime immune defenses against diverse influenza strains.

The spread of H5N1 influenza in animals with spillover into human populations globally highlights the critical need for effective countermeasures to protect our communities from this and other pathogens with pandemic potential,” said study correspond