TRENDING

 

Each year we bundle up for the cooler weather while trying to avoid any colds, but when it comes to the flu, at least there's always the flu shot. But though getting vaccinated helps, it's not perfect cure. Vaccines work by introducing a small sample of the virus into the bloodstream so that the body can learn how to develop the right antibodies to fight it off. Each year's flu vaccination is based on the predictions for what strain of influenza will be circulating that year, but doctors can't create the specific cure until they know which virus is already spreading. At least until now.

This year, Science and Nature published two new studies that explain how the researchers creating the newest flu vaccine are basing their medicine off a different section of the virus than what is normally used—and this section doesn't change as much year to year. This new step could get us closer to a universal vaccine that would cover multiple strains and could be used over a period of many years. Eventually, scientists may even be able to develop a vaccine that can fight all strains of the flu. For now, we're just pretty glad to be extra protected. 

Do you get your flu shot every year? What other cool science discoveries have you heard about?

by Ilana Bernstein | 2/1/2016