A tool to predict next year's flu

2003/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

The flu virus has a great capacity for change and therefore we are not safe from vaccination. In fact, it is synthesized taking into account the last variety in which the vaccine appears from year to year, in February in the northern hemisphere, which does not ensure that it does not change again when winter comes.

In order to predict the evolution of influenza, the University of California has developed a theoretical model. The model envisages the direction in which the pressure of the human defense system can stimulate the evolution of the virus. This method provides a better understanding of the interaction between the virus and the immune system as well as assistance to vaccine designers.