Frog-derived Hemagglutinin-Bearing Flu Antiviral

An epidermal host defense peptide from the South Indian frog named urumin is virucidal for H1 hemagglutinin-bearing human influenza A viruses. It was demonstrated that this peptide destroyed influenza virions. It also protected naive mice from lethal influenza infection. Urumin targets the same part of the influenza as antibodies produced as vaccines against it, making it a potential first-line anti-viral treatment during influenza outbreaks.

Human Vaccines – RNA Drugs

Moderna is a company is trying to develop mRNA drugs as vaccines an initial demonstration to prove that this class of drugs can safely work. Barney Graham, deputy director of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Wall Street Journal, “I’m cautiously optimistic this could be a really important addition to our vaccine arsenal.”

Nurture and Nature – Immunodeficiencies

It is not well understood how environmental factors play a role in improving the general response of immunodeficient children as they age and their immune systems mature; it is argued that background genes and environmental factors are responsible for this. It is being explored now, by asking the critical question, do other congenital innate immune deficiencies result in adaptive immune responses in order to compensate? From this research, it appears that this is possible.