A single nasal spray vaccine could protect against all coughs, colds and flus, as well as bacterial lung infections, and may even ease allergies, say US researchers.
There may also be consequences to dialling up the immune system beyond its normal state – raising questions of immune disorders.
Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said the work was undeniably “exciting” but cautioned “we have to ensure that keeping the body on ‘high alert’ doesn’t lead to friendly fire, where a hyper-ready immune system accidentally triggers unwelcome side effects”.
Oh look, my first thought when reading the headline!
My second thought is when viruses and other pathogens evolve to evade this, everyone not using it is fucked.
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But this is not a vaccine (triggering an immune response to a specific antigen) despite the headline, it’s a way to dial up the (entire? it’s unclear) immune system. Seems like a good way to evolve superbugs and get nasty autoimmune conditions.
I thought this was “good news for everyone”.
